Overlooking The San Miniato In Florence

Overlooking the Southern part of Florence, the mosaic facade of church San Miniato al Monte glittering in the light of lowering sun is even more impressive, when seen from close distance.

To reach the church you need to leave the city center move over Arno river and climb the path rising from Piazzale Michelangelo. Several minutes of ascending will be revarded with the splendid panorama of Florence with Forte di Belvedere, Dome and Piazzale di Michelangelo when turning down the path, and enchanted Tuscany landscape, looking into the opposite direction.

The patron San Miniato was the Roman soldier, who in the third century A.D. was executed because of his Christian, at that time forbidden, religion. The order of Caesar Decius has been executed in a Roman amphitheatre, but as the legend goes the corpse of beheaded martyr saint took his head under arm and walk away into the hills.

On the place where the saint found his final shelter the funeral chapel was build to be replaced later by the Romanesque church finished in 1018. The buildings of the cloister were firs occupied by the Benedictine monks, later by Cluny and finally by Olivetes who take care abuot the church till the present time.

At the end of 11th century the church received the typical Tuscany facade of white and green marble, adorned with the sculpture of an eagle carrying the lump of cloth, the coat of arm of powerful medieval guild of cloth merchants Arte di Calimala, the church donators.

The richness of the families sponsoring San Miniato one can judge from the preserved tombstones on adjact cemetery.

The outside mosaic from 13th century shows adult Jesus with Saint Mary and San Miniato aside, these saints are also depicted inside of the chuch.

The interior features the wooden ceiling from 14th century,and the floor finished in 1207 with lions, doves and signs of zodiac. Besides the main altar there are the side chapel commissioned by Michelozzo in 1448, and the tomb sculpture by Cardinal Jacopo di Lusitania surrounded by the angels, the work of Antonio Rosselino ( 1466 ).

The belfry rising above the church has never been finished, as it was changed into the gunpowder tower with guns firing angainst the Medici family in the 1530 war.