Chiesa della Ss Annunziata

Lonely Planet review

Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, this church was established in 1250 by the founders of the Servite order and rebuilt by Michelozzo and others in the mid-15th century. In the ornate tabernacle, to your left as you enter the church from the atrium, is what is believed by the faithful to be a miraculous painting of the Virgin.

The painting, which is no longer on public view, is attributed to a 14th-century friar, but legend has it that an angel popped down from the heavens to add the finishing touches. Also of note are frescoes by Andrea del Castagno in the first two chapels on the left of the church, a fresco by Perugino in the fifth chapel and the frescoes in Michelozzo's atrium, particularly the Nascita della Vergine (Birth of the Virgin) by Andrea del Sarto and La Visitazione (The Visitation) by Jacopo Pontormo. The square itself is one of the city's loveliest. Commanding the centre is Giambologna's equestrian statue of Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici (largely created by Pietro Tacca on his master's design).