Church of Orsanmichele

The Church of Orsanmichele is located in Florence, between two squares - the Cathedral and the Signoria. One of the attractions of the city, dating back to the period before the Renaissance. The name means "Church of Saint Michael". Such a temple was located on this site earlier, but was destroyed in the XIII century. Luxurious orchards once bloomed here, which explains the presence of the particle "orti" in the name (from Italian - "gardens").

A bit of history

Earlier, this building was used for completely different purposes - grain storage and bread trade. Therefore, its appearance of the church of Orsanmichele can confuse travelers, because it is completely different from the exterior of other sacred places.

1304 became a "black" year in the history of the building - there was a strong fire. The reconstruction of the Orsanmichele church was carried out in a style reminiscent of a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance, such a design was very common for those times. The masters took up the superstructure of the third floor, and bricked up the arches of the loggia on the first floor.

Public opinion

In 1348, Europe faced a terrible plague. Many citizens of Florence believed that this was a heavenly punishment for their sins. The amount of donations that people carried to this temple was so large that it exceeded the spending of Florence in a year. In particular, for this money, a large, elegant tabernacle was installed in the church of Orsanmichele, which is a recognized masterpiece of art, decorated with cosmatesco mosaics and smalts of different colors. In its niche is a masterpiece of religious art - the icon of the Madonna and Child, by Bernard Duddy.

In 1406, the Signoria decree was issued, according to which the craft workshops of the city were obliged to decorate 14 niches of the facades of the Orsanmichele church over the next decade. They did not manage to do it on time, but they put up the statues - masterpieces of world sculpture appeared along the entire building, which additionally adorned the already majestic structure of the church.

Attraction Features

Speaking of the Church of Orsanmichele, a copy of the sculpture "St. George" by the outstanding Donatello should be noted separately. On the facade is a copy of the statue, and its original, for security reasons, was placed in the Bargello Museum. It is also located in Florence, so visitors to the city will have little difficulty seeing this sculpture.

In general, the Church of Orsanmichele is definitely a place that a traveler should visit if he suddenly finds himself in this wonderful city. The rich history of the building is successfully combined with a whole string of world masterpieces located on its territory.