360 :: a spherical panoramic journey in 2668 pieces

Founded by Carmelite nuns in the mid-15th century, the church was rebuilt by the architect Cerutti in the late 17th century for the Cistercians (whence the name ‘Cestello’). Facing the Arno, it has a façade in rough stone and a dome standing on a tall drum, completed by Antonio Maria Ferri in 1698. Inside, the aisle-less nave with side chapels and the transept are lit by large windows and embellished with baroque stuccoes. In the 17th and 18th century artists such as Antonio Domenico Gabbiani, Camillo Sagrestani, Pier Dandini and Francesco Curradi worked here. Some 14th- and 15th-century paintings and sculptures came here from the old church of San Frediano, Next to the Cestello stands the principal Seminary of Florence. (Text from the information plaque).

"The Piazza of Santo Spirito, once home to the School of St. Augustine, has often been called a theater and was perhaps intended as one. Even when the piazza is not the stage for political rallies or avant-garde mummers, it is a theater and, in spite of its size, an intimate one: In the morning produce is sold from carts under striped umbrellas, and in the afternoon used clothes are sold; and lovers stroll all the time, old people warm their bodies in the sun, children play ball (in spite of a plaque dated 1639 that forbids playing ball). The square has always served a communal function. For one of the most beautiful of all churches to gaze with its single deep-eyed window over such homely activities is the very essence of sincerity and charm." (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison: Italian Days, 1998).

On one side there is a monumental facade of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral, while on the other side there is St. John's Baptistry with its famous ornamented doors called the Gates of Paradise.