This church and the cloister were built by the whip-bearing Dominican's in the 13th century, who had to enlarge the square out front to accomadate all those who wanted to strip and flog each other during the inquisition. One of the most vocal of the leaders/finger-pointers/tattletales ended up with an axe in his head. Guess he crossed the wrong person?
All in all it was a good thing that this church emmerged as fine as it did due to the common sense of the rest of Florence! It's safe to visit here now....I didn't even get a feeling of bad karma.
You should visit, if nothing else to take in the frescos that are just glorious and completely surround the altar and it's small dome. The Altar is quite a lovely piece and the paintings hung all over are by the usual Renassaince club of Florence. (Sorry, you see the same names over and over and one gets jaded after a few days!) Don't miss the Trinity by Masaccio (1427).