Piazza Santa Croce

This square took shape at the end of the 13th century, when the worldwide famous Basilica of Santa Croce, of the Franciscan Order, was rebuilt (1295), based on a design by Arnolfo di Cambio, and incorporated within the last Arnolfian city walls. The late thirteenth-century church has imposing dimensions, in relation to the growing power of the Friars Minor and the square was enlarged accordingly. The space was used for preaching and, starting from the fifteenth century, it was the scene of horse rides and tournaments.. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, the physiognomy of the buildings overlooking it also took shape. Finally, in 1863 the construction of the neo-Gothic style façade of the church gave the square the appearance of a timeless place much appreciated by "metaphysical" painters. The monument to Dante Alighieri, in the churchyard, is a nineteenth-century work by Enrico Pazzi originally placed in the center of the square.

In the month of June the square completely changes its original appearance, transforming into a real playing field covered in sand and surrounded by stands: it is here that the matches of the famous Calcio Storico Fiorentino (Historical Football, one of the main popular traditions of Florence) are played in the month of June. Preceded by two semi-finals, the final is played on June 24th (on the occasion of the celebrations for Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence). Among the buildings that stand on the square (right side, looking at the church) Palazzo Antellesi stands out, on whose unusually frescoed façade there is an ancient sign indicating the median line of the playing field.

A stone's throw from Piazza Santa Croce there is the Casa Buonarroti  Museum, with interesting early works by Michelangelo, Piazza Cavalleggeri dominated by the National Library complex and, in the nearby Via de' Benci, the Horne Museum  with the rich collection of the historian of art Robert Percy Horne.