San Lorenzo & Medici Trail

The parish church of the Medici family for three centuries and their burial place. Brunelleschi designed the church interior (1420s), creating one of the first and purest Renaissance church spaces. The Old Sacristy by Brunelleschi and the New Sacristy by Michelangelo represent two pinnacles of Renaissance architecture 100 years apart. Michelangelo's Medici tombs (1520-1534) with the figures of Dawn, Dusk, Night, and Day are among his greatest sculptural achievements. The Laurentian Library, also by Michelangelo, features a revolutionary staircase that influenced Baroque architecture for centuries.

The Medici Chapels entrance is separate from the church (around the back on Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini). The Laurentian Library staircase alone is worth the visit — Michelangelo as architect, not sculptor.

Florence's central food market, operating since 1874 in a beautiful cast-iron and glass structure designed by Giuseppe Mengoni (who also designed Milan's Galleria). The ground floor sells fresh produce, meat, fish, tripe, and Tuscan specialties — lampredotto (tripe sandwich) vendors outside are a Florentine institution. The upper floor, renovated in 2014, houses artisanal food stalls curated by celebrity chef Giorgio Locatelli. The market sits at the heart of the San Lorenzo district, surrounded by the outdoor leather market that has occupied these streets since the Medici era.

Da Nerbone on the ground floor has been serving bollito and lampredotto since 1872 — the tripe sandwich is a rite of passage. The outdoor San Lorenzo leather market wraps around the building.