Florence / Attractions guide / San Lorenzo & the Medici Chapels
Art · Architecture
San Lorenzo & the Medici Chapels
The Medici family's own parish church, deliberately left with a bare, unfinished facade — and, behind it, the mausoleum where Michelangelo worked as both architect and sculptor.
- Price
- Basilica ~€9 · Medici Chapels ~€10–14, separate tickets
- Hours
- Basilica varies by day · Chapels typically close mid-afternoon
- Avg. visit
- 45 minutes basilica + 45 minutes chapels
- Book ahead
- Recommended for the Chapels in peak season
San Lorenzo was the Medici family's parish church and, for practical purposes, their private chapel — Brunelleschi rebuilt it from 1419 in what became the founding style of Renaissance architecture, and it was never given the marble facade originally planned for its front. That rough, unfinished stone exterior in Piazza San Lorenzo has stood untouched for six centuries, a strange contrast with the harmonious, mathematically precise interior on the other side of the same wall.
Behind the church, reached through a separate entrance and ticket, the Medici Chapels hold Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy and Michelangelo's later New Sacristy facing each other across the same building. The New Sacristy contains Michelangelo's allegorical tomb figures — Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk — left deliberately unfinished by some accounts and a masterclass in sculptural tension by any measure. The adjoining Chapel of the Princes, a lavish Baroque mausoleum clad entirely in inlaid marble and semi-precious stone, is the building whose dome you can see rising above the neighbourhood from well outside it.
Inside
What to see
- Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy inside the basilica itself
- Michelangelo's New Sacristy and the allegorical tomb figures of Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk
- The Chapel of the Princes, clad in inlaid marble and semi-precious stone
- The Laurentian Library's staircase, one of the strangest and most influential pieces of Mannerist architecture in the city
Practical
Good to know
- The basilica and the Medici Chapels are two separate institutions with separate entrances and tickets, despite sharing one building.
- Enter the basilica from Piazza San Lorenzo; the Chapels' entrance is around the back on Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini.
- The Chapels typically close in the early-to-mid afternoon, earlier than most Florence museums — check the specific day before planning around them.
Timing
When it's busiest
- Early morning
- Quiet
- Mid-morning
- Busy, market crowds outside
- Midday
- Moderate
- Afternoon
- Quiet — Chapels often closed
Nearby
Combine your visit
3-minute walk
Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore
Right around the corner — visit before or after the dome climb.
Visit →
5-minute walk
Galleria dell'Accademia
North through the market streets to see Michelangelo's David.
Visit →
10-minute walk
Galleria degli Uffizi
South past the Duomo toward Piazza della Signoria and the river.
Visit →
FAQ
Common questions
Does one ticket cover both the basilica and the Chapels?
No — they're separate institutions with separate entrances, tickets and opening hours, despite being part of the same physical complex.
Why does the facade look unfinished?
Because it is — a marble facade was planned and never built, leaving the rough brick-and-stone construction surface exposed for six centuries. It's one of the more striking contrasts in Florence between plain exterior and refined interior.
What's the dome visible from the street?
That's the Chapel of the Princes, the lavish marble-clad mausoleum attached to the Medici Chapels — its dome is often the first part of the complex visible from a distance, well before you reach the piazza.
Is the surrounding market area worth combining with the visit?
Yes, if timing allows — the streets around Piazza San Lorenzo host a busy market that adds a very different, workaday texture to a visit otherwise built around Medici history and Michelangelo.