Florence By Area >> City Centre North

Piazza di San Lorenzo (Basilica and Biblioteca), Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini (Cappelle Medicee) Basilica Tel. 055 21 66 34 Biblioteca Tel. 055 21 07 60 Cappelle Medicee Tel. 055 238 86 02

Open: 10am-5pm Mon-Sat (Mar-Oct also 1:30-5pm Sun). Church Services: 8am, 9:30am, 6pm Mon-Sat, 9:30am, 11am, 6pm Sun & religious holidays. Biblioteca Open: Apr-Jun & during exhibitions. Closed: public hols. Cappelle Medicee Open: 8:15am-1:50pm Tue-Sat (last adm; 30mins before closing). Closed: 1st, 3rd & 5th Mon, 2nd & 4th Sun of the month.

San Lorenzo was the parish church of the Medici family, and they lavished their wealth on its adornment. Brunelleschi rebuilt the church in Renaissance Classical style in 1419, although the façade was never completed. In 1520 Michelangelo begun work on the Medici tombs and designed the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana in 1524 to house the manuscripts collected by the Medici. In both the New Sacristy and the Cappella dei Principi, extensive scaffolding has been erected (for an indefinite period) to protect visitors from falling marble.