The Basilica of Santa Croce is one of the largest Franciscan churches in the world. It is also called the Temple of the Italian Glories because it is the resting place of many illustrious Italians. Its mausoleum has nearly 300 tombs dating from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century. Some of the most famous people buried in Santa Croce are Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Machiavelli, and Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Moreover, there is immense artistic wealth in Santa Croce as frescoes by Giotto in the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels, beautiful artworks by Donatello, Pazzi Chapel, designed by Brunelleschi, and many others.
Highlights: Among many amazing artworks and interesting facts, we will see a statue called the Liberty of Poetry, part of one of the funeral monuments, which probably inspired the author of the Statue of Liberty in New York City.