The Basilica di San Lorenzo is one of the largest churches in Florence. It is located at the center of the city’s main market district, and is the burial place of all the principal members of the Medici family from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III. It was the city’s main cathedral for three hundred years before the official seat of the bishop was moved to Santa Reparata. In 1419, Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici offered to finance a new church to replace the eleventh-century Romanesque rebuilding. Filippo Brunelleschi was commissioned to design it, but the building was not completed until after his death. The nave contains works by Donatello, Lippi, Bronzino, and Rosso. The church is part of a larger complex that contains other important architectural works: the Old Sacristy by Brunelleschi; the Laurentian Library by Michelangelo; the New Sacristy based on Michelangelo's designs; and the Medici Chapels by Matteo Nigetti.
Opening off the north transept is the square, domed space, the Sagrestia Vecchia, or Old Sacristy, that was designed by Brunelleschi. The Old Sacristy is the oldest part of the present church and the only part completed in Brunelleschi's lifetime. Containing the tombs of several members of the Medici family, it was composed of a sphere on top of a cube; the cube represents the human world and the sphere the heavens. You can walk out of the main door on the left of the Old Sacristy into the gorgeous two-tiered cloisters that frame the garden.
The most celebrated and grandest part of San Lorenzo is the Cappelle Medicee (Medici Chapels) in the apse. The chapels, at the eastern end of the church, consist of the crypt, and the Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of Princes), which is the Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacristy). The New Sacristy was begun in 1520 by Michelangelo, who also designed the Medici tombs within. Inspired by Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy, it was used as a funeral chapel for the Medici family. Almost fifty lesser members of the Medici family are buried in the crypt. Stone steps lead from the crypt to the Cappella dei Principi, which is an octagonal mausoleum. It was begun in 1604 and is entirely lined with marble and gems.
The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) is a famous storehouse of more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. It was under the patronage of the Medici pope, Clement VII. The Library was built to emphasize that the Medici family were no longer simply merchants but members of the intelligent and church society. It contains the manuscripts and books belonging to the private library of the Medici family. The library is renowned for the architecture, planned and built by Michelangelo Buonarroti.
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