Today, I headed out in search of the modern equivalent of the old ‘foundling wheels’ – where unwanted babies could be left to be cared for. In the process, I found some beautiful, forgotten frescos. And some relics of Padre Pio (see my previous post). Florence has a strong history of caring for foundlings. The…

Over the weekend, I was told that relics of Padre Pio were kept in the Chiesa di Santa Margherita dei Cerchi, locally known as the Chiesa Dante. So I wandered through the narrow medieval streets north of the Palazzo Vecchio – to be greeted by a ‘closed’ sign. August is not the best month for…

The second church I want to write about is the Basilica di Santa Trinita, on the Piazza di Santa Trinita, just across the Arno from St Mark’s. A review of this church on TripAdvisor comments that the facade of this church looks like a bank. It’s hard to disagree – until you take a closer…

When I arrived in Florence to spend a month helping at St. Mark’s, I was excited to visit the many beautiful churches. In this series of blog posts, I’m going to explore some less-well-known corners of some less-well-known churches. One of the first churches I found myself in was the Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano, on…