Pictures of Florence, Italy

• Last Minute Hotels

Piazza Santa Croce was the place in which the historical football match was played during the Carnival in 1530. Today, the statue of Dante (1865) has had to be shifted from the center to the side of the square to make way for the annual “calcio in costume” (football match in fancy dress) and here lies the magnificent gothic Church of Santa Croce, started by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1294 and finished in 1442. Its neo-gothic belltower was added in 1842. The interior presents frescoes by Giotto and his pupil Taddeo Gaddi. The church contains tombs and cenotaphs of important men including the ones of Michelangelo and Galileo. Machiavelli was buried here in 1527 and his funeral monument was erected in 1727 by Innocenzo Spinazzi.