Santa Croce is one of the oldest Franciscan basilicas and, in terms of its dimensions, also one of the most magnificent. Adjacent to the church is the convent complex with its two cloisters, the novices' quarters, the Chapter Room, better known as the Pazzi Chapel, and the refectory, which is now the premises of the Museum and houses famous works originating from the church and the cloisters. Built in 1294, to a design by the great architect Arnolfo di Cambio, the Basilica has lived through seven centuries of history, augmenting its artistic heritage as a result of exceptional contributions, to the point of becoming one of the best-loved and most visited sites in Florence. Everything in the church is of the very highest quality: the frescoes executed through the contributions of Giotto, Maso di Banco, Taddeo Gaddi, Giovanni da Milano and Agnolo Gaddi; the monumental crosses and the polyptychs, the splendid fourteenth-century windows; the Renaissance architecture created by Michelozzo and Brunelleschi; the fifteenth-century sculptural works – tombs, altars and pulpits – by the greatest Florentine masters, including Donatello, Antonio and Bernardo Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano and Benedetto da Maiano. Later, in the second half of the sixteenth century, Santa Croce was involved in an architectural and iconographic programme inspired by the principles of the Counter-Reformation, involving the erection of large altars embellished with paintings by the greatest Tuscan artists of the time. However, it was with the construction of the tomb of Michelangelo that the Basilica confirmed its vocation to house "the urns of the great" and to become the Pantheon of Italian glories. In the course of the nineteenth century, alongside the sepulchres celebrated by Ugo Foscolo, private tombs inspired by a romantic mourning for lost affections also found their place in the Basilica, and above all in the cloister. In the nineteenth century the facade and the campanile were built, and the monument to Dante Alighieri was set up in the square.

Basilicia di Santa Croce is one of Florence's major churches (the other highly touted church is the Duomo) and is within walking distance of the Duomo. It is extremely popular with travellers and locals alike because the church is the resting place of renowned Italians such as Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, and Galileo. The exterior of the church is similar to that of the Duomo - with the same colour patterns and style. Outside the church is a huge statue of Dante, who has a tomb in the church but he is actually buried elsewhere. The real gem of Santa Croce must be the stunning Pazzi Chapel that was designed by Brunelleschi. I rather enjoyed the stunning frescoes by Giotti in Peruzzi and Bardi sections of the church.

It is a nice change of pace from the hectic atmosphere seen over at the Duomo. Santa Croce is more laid-back and has smaller crowds and therefore more of a peaceful atmosphere. It is a great way to spend your afternoon in Florence after a busy morning at the museums.

The church is open on Monday-Saturday 9:30am to 5:30pm and on Sundays from 1pm to 5:30pm. Admission is €4-5 euros although I can't remember how much I paid. You must dress conservatively to be allowed entry into the church. Ladies cannot wear shoulder-baring tops and pants/skirts above the knee. Men must dress appropriately as well. To get to Santa Croce, it's a short walk from the train station or Duomo although buses no. 13, 23 and 71 can get you there as well.

That I am visiting this church for the second time does not detract from the wonder of its attractions. First, who's buried there - it's a list of the Renaissance who's who. The art is magnificent, the chapels are artistic gems, and the courtyards are well kept. The attached museum is fascinating. One could easily spend 4 hours here and still not take in everything. I suspect that I will have to fight my compulsion to try to see everything.

The Franciscan began building this Gothic-style church in 1294, but didn’t finish it until 1442. The neo-Gothic façade wasn’t installed until 1857. It was built to rival the huge church of Santa Maria Novella being raised by the Dominicans across the city. The interior is wide, with huge stone arches creating the aisles and an extremely high ceiling that creates an echoing atmosphere. The floor is paved with old tomb stones, many of which are covered with hard plastic sheeting to keep them from being entirely worn away.

As we move from the entrance toward the front of the church, on the right we see Michelangelo’s tomb. He painted the "Pieta" on the headstone himself. Next is a rather overdone cenotaph to Dante Alighieri, who was exiled to Ravenna, which has refused to return the bones to Florence. Next is a wall monument to Niccolò Machiavelli, author of "The Prince." A few tombs up the aisle lay the remains of famous composer Gioacchino Rossini.

In the right transept, next to the main altar, we see two historically significant, but fading, Giotto frescos. One illustrates scenes from the lives of St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist, and the other scenes from the life of St. Francis. To the left of the altar is a famous crucifix carved by Donatello, on which Christ looks like a real suffering person. He was criticized by Brunelleschi and others for making Christ look like a peasant. Going back down the left side, we walk by the floor tomb of Lorenzo Ghiberti, sculptor of the famous Baptistry doors near the Duomo. The last tomb on the south side of the nave is that of Galileo Galilei.

We walk back up to the front of the church and visit the Pazzi Chapel, designed by Brunelleschi. It is considered the epitome of idealized Renaissance design. At this point, Tom and I head out the door into the Cloister Garden, which is graced by greenery and statuary. We take a break and then continue north in the shade to the smaller cloister and on into the museum. The museum is interesting, but not compelling, except for the chapel at the east end. Besides, we are hungry and going into cultural overload, so we move through it quickly. We skip the special printing exhibit and leave via the cloister exit.

Entry fee is 4€. It is open seven days a week, except during services. Picture-taking is allowed.

It was a church like many we had seen, but it was the burial site of Michaelangelo and Galileo. For this alone, it is worth a visit. Unfortunately, our guide was a "sprinter", and we were whisked out of the church before we could visit all the funeral monuments and tombstones. The chapel walls are completely covered in Frescoesby Giotti. The stained-glass windows are also worth a look. I know that like me, you may have seen the inside of more churches in a few days than you have seen in a lifetime, but the artwork here is truly worth the effort!

You do need to make sure that you allow plenty of time to do the artwork justice, though it is a bit like the Louvre -- too much to take in at one time! If I visited again, I would get rid of the guide!

Being the first day of the holiday, I pushed my luck a little and managed to persuade the Blonde into a second cathedral in one day. She was feeling lenient because of the reckless selection of LOBS the night before (all the best relationships are based on compromise!) and I made the most of it. And so we landed up at Santa Croce.

The church of Santa Croce dates back to the tail end of the 13th century. It is most definitely gothic in appearance with a fussy marble frontage facing onto a large and strangely unwelcoming piazza. It is the ancient home of the Franciscan Order (with Santa Maria Novella home to the big rivals, the Dominicans) and replaced a smaller church on the same site. The ticket booth is situated to the left of the cathedral’s front entrance – a few euros get you in to the church itself and a few more will include the museum next door.

The huge interior is an absolute delight. Frescos, many by the influential Giotto, are in abundance around the walls and tucked away in a row of narrow chapels to the rear. If you have a taste for 14th century devotional art then this, after the Uffizi, is your thing. The church is also famed for being the permanent resting place of many an important Florentine. One wanders over many of the less well known – the top quality berths line the walls. Here you will find Michelangelo, Galileo (eventually . . . his heretical heliocentric nonsense finally forgiven), a monument to Dante (his body is elsewhere), and my personal favourite, Machiavelli. The tombs are grand with some realistic carvings of the great and the good in repose and various worthy inscriptions (hang around a tour guide if you want to know more – there are no handy translations on show).

We reached our ‘devotional art threshold’ relatively quickly and headed out into the first cloister where we stumbled across the delightful Capella dei Pazzi. It is the work of Brunelleschi, carried out some time after he’d made his reputation with the Duomo’s mighty dome. I’m no Renaissance expert but the guidebooks say this typifies the early period when architects and artists were reviving classical Romanesque geometry and detail. It has a temple look about it, reminiscent of the front of the Pantheon, and is seductively peaceful as it seemed to escape many of the crowds.

Florence has an awful lot of churches and, unless you’re a devoted fan of Madonnas, Ascensions and altars, your threshold will be reached before you see them all. If, like us, you just want the cream of the crop (and the Blonde wanted only the crème de la crème – there were cafes to enjoy too you know!), then include Santa Croce.