Santa Trinita (; Italian for "Holy Trinity") is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church located in front of the

piazza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

of the same name, traversed by

Via de' Tornabuoni Via de' Tornabuoni, or Via Tornabuoni, is a street at the center of Florence, Italy, that goes from Antinori square to ponte Santa Trinita, across Santa Trinita square, distinguished by the presence of fashion boutiques. The street houses high ...

, in central

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, region of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is the mother church of the

Vallumbrosan Order The Vallombrosians (alternately spelled Vallombrosans, Vallumbrosians or Vallumbrosans) are a monastic religious order in the Catholic Church. They are named after the location of their motherhouse founded in Vallombrosa ( la, Vallis umbrosa, shad ...

of monks, founded in 1092 by a Florentine nobleman. South on Via de' Tornabuoni is the Ponte Santa Trinita over the river

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...

; across the street is the Palazzo Spini Feroni.

History

The church is home to the

Sassetti Chapel The Sassetti Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sassetti) is a chapel in the basilica of Santa Trinita in Florence, Italy. It is especially notable for its frescoes of the ''Stories of St. Francis'', considered Domenico Ghirlandaio's masterwork. History F ...

, containing 15th-century frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio, and the

Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel The Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel (Italian: ''Cappella Bartolini Salimbeni'') is a chapel in the church of Santa Trinita, Florence, central Italy. Its decoration by Lorenzo Monaco, dating to the 1420s, are one of the few surviving examples of Inter ...

, with frescoes by Lorenzo Monaco. Even though the modern

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

word for "trinity" is ''

trinità Trinità is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. Trinità borders the following municipalities: Bene Vagienna, Fossano, Magliano Alpi, a ...

'', with an accent indicating stress on the last vowel, the old Florentine pronunciation used to put the stress on the first vowel, and the name is therefore written without an accent; sometimes, it is accented as ''trìnita'' to indicate the unusual pronunciation. The current church was constructed in 1258–1280 at the site of a pre-existing 11th-century church. Multiple reconstructions occurred over the centuries. The

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

façade (1593–1594) was designed by

Bernardo Buontalenti Bernardo Buontalenti (), byname of Bernardo Delle Girandole ( 1531 – June 1608), was an Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist and inventor of italian ice cream. Biography Buontalenti was born in ...

. The bas-relief over the central door of the ''Trinity'' was sculpted by

Pietro Bernini Pietro Bernini (6 May 1562 – 29 August 1629) was an Italian sculptor. He was the father of one of the most famous artists of Baroque, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, as well as the sculptor-architect Luigi Bernini. Biography Bernini was born in Sesto F ...

and

Giovanni Battista Caccini Giovanni Battista Caccini or Giovan Battista Caccini (24 October 1556 – 13 March 1613) was an Italian sculptor from Florence, who worked in a classicising style in the later phase of Mannerism. Life Giovanni Battista Caccini was born at Mon ...

. The 17th-century wooden doors have carved panels depicting Saints of the Vallumbrosan order. The Column of Justice (''Colonna di Giustizia'') in the piazza outside, originates from the

Baths of Caracalla , alternate_name = it, Terme di Caracalla , image = File:Baths of Caracalla, facing Caldarium.jpg , caption = The baths as viewed from the south-west. The caldarium would have been in the front of the image , coordinates = ...

in Rome, and was a gift to

Cosimo I de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Life Rise to power Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...

by Pope Pius IV. It was erected in 1565 to commemorate the

Battle of Montemurlo On 1 or 2 August 1537 (both dates are given in sources), near the Tuscan village of Montemurlo, the forces of the newly installed Duke Cosimo I of Florence defeated a hastily organized army of those who wished to overthrow the Medici and restor ...

in which Florence defeated

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

. The ''

Santa Trinita Maestà The ''Santa Trinita Maestà'' (Italian: ''Maestà di Santa Trinita'') is a panel painting by the Italian medieval artist Cimabue, dating to c. 1290-1300. Originally painted for the church of Santa Trinita, Florence, where it remained until 1471 ...

'' by

Cimabue Cimabue (; ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World’s Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter ...

was once at the high altar of the church, and was later moved to a side chapel. It is now exhibited at the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

Chapels

The church has approximately 20 chapels, many with masterworks. The most significant are the Sassetti and the Bartolini Salimbeni chapels. Francesco Sassetti had been a manager of the

Medici Bank The Medici Bank (Italian: ''Banco dei Medici'' ) was a financial institution created by the Medici family in Italy during the 15th century (1397–1494). It was the largest and most respected bank in Europe during its prime. There are some estima ...

, and some of the Ghirlandaio frescoes capture views of contemporary Florence.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinita Florence Basilica churches in Florence Gothic architecture in Florence Mannerist architecture in Italy 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1594