Description
The Badia Fiorentina is the ancient Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria, in the heart of Florence, on Via del Proconsolo, a stone's throw from the Bargello. “Badia” is the popular word for abbey: there were once five around the city, and this was the one in the center.
To recognize it, just look up: its hexagonal bell tower, about 70 meters tall, stands out on the city skyline among the towers of Palazzo Vecchio and the Bargello. At the top, a weathervane angel turned so often that it gave rise to a saying: “fickle as the Angel of the Badia”.
It was founded in 978 by Willa, mother of Marquis Hugh of Tuscany. Hugh showered it with gifts, and Florence has not forgotten: every December 21 a Mass is still held for him. Dante called him the “Gran barone”.
Inside, the 17th-century coffered wooden ceiling hides the old trusses. Right on the left of the entrance is the Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard by Filippino Lippi, with a hairy, tusked demon hidden in the rock beneath the saint.
The Chiostro degli Aranci (Cloister of the Oranges), built in the 15th century by Bernardo Rossellino, is frescoed with stories of Saint Benedict. Also worth seeing are the tomb of Marquis Hugh, by Mino da Fiesole, and Giorgio Vasari's canvas of the Assumption.
The church is tied to Dante. According to the Vita Nuova, it was here, during a Mass, that the poet saw Beatrice for the first time. And here, years later, Boccaccio gave the first of his famous public readings of the Divine Comedy.
The monks, though, also knew how to say no. In 1307, to avoid paying a tax, they barricaded themselves in and rang the bells to call the people. The punishment: the bell tower was lopped off halfway, and later rebuilt on a hexagonal base.
It seems Cosimo the Elder also offered to rebuild the church, but the monks refused to put his coat of arms on it. He fell back on San Marco. At the Badia, for centuries, only Marquis Hugh's has stood out.
To recognize it, just look up: its hexagonal bell tower, about 70 meters tall, stands out on the city skyline among the towers of Palazzo Vecchio and the Bargello. At the top, a weathervane angel turned so often that it gave rise to a saying: “fickle as the Angel of the Badia”.
It was founded in 978 by Willa, mother of Marquis Hugh of Tuscany. Hugh showered it with gifts, and Florence has not forgotten: every December 21 a Mass is still held for him. Dante called him the “Gran barone”.
Inside, the 17th-century coffered wooden ceiling hides the old trusses. Right on the left of the entrance is the Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard by Filippino Lippi, with a hairy, tusked demon hidden in the rock beneath the saint.
The Chiostro degli Aranci (Cloister of the Oranges), built in the 15th century by Bernardo Rossellino, is frescoed with stories of Saint Benedict. Also worth seeing are the tomb of Marquis Hugh, by Mino da Fiesole, and Giorgio Vasari's canvas of the Assumption.
The church is tied to Dante. According to the Vita Nuova, it was here, during a Mass, that the poet saw Beatrice for the first time. And here, years later, Boccaccio gave the first of his famous public readings of the Divine Comedy.
The monks, though, also knew how to say no. In 1307, to avoid paying a tax, they barricaded themselves in and rang the bells to call the people. The punishment: the bell tower was lopped off halfway, and later rebuilt on a hexagonal base.
It seems Cosimo the Elder also offered to rebuild the church, but the monks refused to put his coat of arms on it. He fell back on San Marco. At the Badia, for centuries, only Marquis Hugh's has stood out.