Description
The Basilica of San Miniato al Monte is Florence's great Romanesque church, on the hill above the Oltrarno: a Romanesque facade of white and green marble, an interior almost untouched since the 11th century and the silence of the monks, at one of the highest points in the city.
It is one of the best examples of Florentine Romanesque. From here you look out over the city, and inside are the crypt, the marble floor and the terracottas of Luca della Robbia.
The facade has two tiers: below, five round arches on half-columns of green serpentine; above, a loggia with the mosaic of Christ between the Virgin and Saint Minias, from 1260. At the top is the copper eagle of the Calimala Guild, the merchants who paid for its upkeep. The two-tone design inspired Brunelleschi as well.
The interior is unusual: the presbytery and choir sit on a raised platform above the great crypt, reached and left by staircases. The ceiling is timber-trussed, and the inlaid floor, from 1207, has its marble zodiac.
The crypt, the oldest part, dates from the 11th century: thirty-eight columns with reused capitals divide the space into small aisles. The altar above it is said to hold the bones of Saint Minias.
The Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal, in the left aisle, was built between 1459 and 1467 for Cardinal James of Lusitania, who died in Florence. The design is by Antonio Rossellino, and the polychrome glazed terracotta ceiling is by Luca della Robbia.
A beheaded man who gets back up, picks up his own head, crosses the Arno and climbs the hill where he lived as a hermit: so goes the legend of Minias, Florence's first martyr, killed around 250. He was perhaps an Eastern merchant, an Armenian prince on pilgrimage to Rome.
On the spot where he stopped there rose first a shrine and then a chapel. The present church begins in 1018, under Bishop Alibrando, and continues under Emperor Henry II. Since 1373 the Olivetan monks have lived on the hill, and they still do.
In 1530, during the siege of Florence, the bell tower became an artillery position, and it was Michelangelo who had it protected from enemy fire.
Don't miss
• The facade of white and green marble.
• The crypt.
• The floor with the zodiac.
• The Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal.
Did you know?
• In the zodiac on the floor, at noon on the summer solstice a ray of sun lights up the sign of Cancer. The phenomenon was rediscovered only in 2011.
• Saint Minias's bones, perhaps, are not here: there is evidence that they had been taken to Metz.
It is one of the best examples of Florentine Romanesque. From here you look out over the city, and inside are the crypt, the marble floor and the terracottas of Luca della Robbia.
The facade has two tiers: below, five round arches on half-columns of green serpentine; above, a loggia with the mosaic of Christ between the Virgin and Saint Minias, from 1260. At the top is the copper eagle of the Calimala Guild, the merchants who paid for its upkeep. The two-tone design inspired Brunelleschi as well.
The interior is unusual: the presbytery and choir sit on a raised platform above the great crypt, reached and left by staircases. The ceiling is timber-trussed, and the inlaid floor, from 1207, has its marble zodiac.
The crypt, the oldest part, dates from the 11th century: thirty-eight columns with reused capitals divide the space into small aisles. The altar above it is said to hold the bones of Saint Minias.
The Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal, in the left aisle, was built between 1459 and 1467 for Cardinal James of Lusitania, who died in Florence. The design is by Antonio Rossellino, and the polychrome glazed terracotta ceiling is by Luca della Robbia.
A beheaded man who gets back up, picks up his own head, crosses the Arno and climbs the hill where he lived as a hermit: so goes the legend of Minias, Florence's first martyr, killed around 250. He was perhaps an Eastern merchant, an Armenian prince on pilgrimage to Rome.
On the spot where he stopped there rose first a shrine and then a chapel. The present church begins in 1018, under Bishop Alibrando, and continues under Emperor Henry II. Since 1373 the Olivetan monks have lived on the hill, and they still do.
In 1530, during the siege of Florence, the bell tower became an artillery position, and it was Michelangelo who had it protected from enemy fire.
Don't miss
• The facade of white and green marble.
• The crypt.
• The floor with the zodiac.
• The Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal.
Did you know?
• In the zodiac on the floor, at noon on the summer solstice a ray of sun lights up the sign of Cancer. The phenomenon was rediscovered only in 2011.
• Saint Minias's bones, perhaps, are not here: there is evidence that they had been taken to Metz.