Santissima Annunziata church
The church of Santissima Annunziata is located in Piazza Santissima Annunziata which you can reach from the Duomo (cathedral) by taking via dei Servi until you reach the square at the end of the square.
Address: Piazza Santissima Annunziata
Times: every day from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
Price: free of charge
The Religious Order of the Servants of Mary, founded in 1233, built a church in 1250 and then enlarged it by Michelozzo between 1444 and 1453 to house a religious image of the Virgin. The portico was built between 1559 and 1601.
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Chiostro dei Voti – Cloister of Vows.
The cloister owes its name to the life-size wax ex-votos suspended from the ceiling. This custom was not abolished until the 18th century.
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It was decorated by the three greatest painters of the time - Andrea del Sarto "Nativity of the Virgin" - Pontormo "Marriage of the Virgin" - Basso Fiorentino "The Visitation". Scenes from the life of Filippo Benizi, founder of the Order, were painted by Cosimo Rosselli and Andrea del Sarto.
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Interior of the church
Michelozzo adopts a plan with a single nave bordered by 17 chapels and a small apse under a dome.
The church has a rich baroque decoration: marble - stucco - gilding. To the left of the entrance the tabernacle houses the miraculous image of the Virgin.
In the chapels, the Assumption by Perugino and the Pieta sculpted by Buccio Bandinelli are noteworthy.
The two carved and gilded wooden organs and the coffered ceiling are remarkable. |
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Chiotro dei Morti – Cloister of the Dead
Hours: 7:30 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
The entrance is on the left of the church. It was built in the 15th century to house the graves of rich donors and artists who contributed to the embellishment of the church. Among the frescoes that decorate the arcades, note the "Madonna of the Sack" by Andrea del Sarto. This painting was much admired at the time.
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