Tours / Guided Tour of Medici Chapels and San Lorenzo Basilica

The guided tour of the Medici Chapels complex consists of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the Mausoleo dei Principi and the New Sacristy

The Basilica of San Lorenzo is one of the oldest churches in Florence, founded by Sant'Ambrogio in the 4th century. In the Medici era it was enlarged by Filippo Brunelleschi who created the Medici family parish. Palazzo Medici is in fact right in front of the Basilica. Cosimo Il Vecchio commissioned Donatello to decorate the sacristy, where Brunelleschi had already worked as an architect.

The Medici chapels have been a state museum since 1869, but their history is linked to that of the Church of San Lorenzo, to which they belong

The museum consists of the New Sacristy, designed and conceived by Michelangelo, the Cappella dei Principi, the Crypt, where the Medici Grand Dukes and their families are buried, and the Lorraine Crypt, which houses, in addition to the remains of the Lorraine family, the monument funeral in Cosimo the old "Pater Patriae".

Michelangelo projected the New Sacristy in order to create the funerary chapels of the Medici family. Michelangelo worked for the New Sacristy from 1520 to 1534. Here are the tombs of Lorenzo Duke of Urbino and Giuliano, Duke of Numours, which are located under big and dramatic sculptures carved by Michelangelo. They represent “Il Giorno e la Notte” (Day and Night) and “L’Aurora e il Crepuscolo” (Dusk and Dawn).

The walls and the floor of the Mausoleo dei Principi are adorned by rich marquetries covered with white marble and semiprecious stones, like lapis lazuli, quartz, and mother-of-pearl. In the six niches there are the sarcophagus of the Dukes, even if they are not buried there. This is one the most representative places of the power of the Medici dynasty, of the splendor of Michelangelo’s sculptures and of the pomp of Mausoleo dei Principi.
We will also visit San Lorenzo Church, the parish church of the Medici Family.

It was rebuilt by Filippo Brunelleschi and decorated by Donatello.