Though Michelangelo never lived in Casa Buonarroti, his heirs devoted some of the artist’s hard-earned wealth to the construction of this 17th-century palazzo (mansion) to honour his memory. The little museum contains frescoes of the artist’s life and two of his most important early works – the serene, bas-relief Madonna of the Stairs and the unfinished Battle of the Centaurs.
Fondazione Casa Buonarroti
Santa Croce
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.4 MILES
Home to the world's greatest collection of Italian Renaissance art, Florence's premier gallery occupies the vast U-shaped Palazzo degli Uffizi (1560–80),…
Basilica di Santa Maria Novella
0.77 MILES
The striking green-and-white marble facade of 13th- to 15th-century Basilica di Santa Maria Novella fronts an entire monastical complex, comprising…
0.37 MILES
This fortress palace, with its crenellations and 94m-high tower, was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio between 1298 and 1314 for the signoria (city government…
0.62 MILES
At the heart of Florence's university area sits Chiesa di San Marco and an adjoining 15th-century Dominican monastery where both gifted painter Fra'…
0.4 MILES
Florence's duomo is the city's most iconic landmark. Capped by Filippo Brunelleschi's red-tiled cupola, it's a staggering construction whose breathtaking…
0.38 MILES
This awe-inspiring story of how the duomo and its cupola came to life is told in this well-executed museum. Among its sacred and liturgical treasures are…
23.61 MILES
Parts of San Gimignano's Romanesque cathedral were built in the second half of the 11th century, but its remarkably vivid frescoes, depicting episodes…
0.42 MILES
A Renaissance masterpiece, the duomo's cupola – 91m high and 45.5m wide – was built between 1420 and 1436. Filippo Brunelleschi, taking inspiration from…
Nearby Santa Croce attractions
0.11 MILES
The austere interior of this Franciscan basilica is a shock after the magnificent neo-Gothic facade enlivened by varying shades of coloured marble. Most…
0.13 MILES
This square was cleared in the Middle Ages to allow the faithful to gather when the church itself was full. In Savonarola's day, heretics were executed…
3. Synagogue & Jewish Museum of Florence
0.25 MILES
Built between 1874 and 1882, just after the Jewish community in Italy had gained full emancipation after centuries of persecution, this vast Moorish…
0.27 MILES
One of the many eccentric Brits who made Florence home in the early 20th century, Herbert Percy Horne bought and renovated this Renaissance palazzo, then…
0.29 MILES
It was behind the stark walls of Palazzo del Bargello, Florence's earliest public building, that the podestà (governing magistrate) meted out justice from…
0.29 MILES
Opera buffs will adore this museum celebrating more than seven decades of work by the late, internationally renowned, Florence-born film director Franco…
0.3 MILES
Delve into Florence of the past in this historic 10th-century abbey hidden in the city centre. Pop by in time for its daily choral service at 5.30pm, or…
0.34 MILES
Dante fans will like to know that it was in this tiny 11th-century church, in the poet's old stomping ground, that he is said to have first espied his…