Cuculia - Ristorante Libreria
Da i' Conte Diladdarno
Fili Folli
Hotel Relais Il Cestello
Tourist informations
Entrance from: Piazza di Cestello.
Opening hours: Holydays: 10-11.30AM; 5-6PM; Working days: 9-11.30AM; 4.30-5.30PM.
Admission ticket: Free.
Opening hours: Holydays: 10-11.30AM; 5-6PM; Working days: 9-11.30AM; 4.30-5.30PM.
Admission ticket: Free.
San Frediano in Cestello is one of the many important churches of Florence whose façade was left unfinished; it is among the best examples of Florentine architecture of the late Baroque.
History
The church stands on the place of the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, founded in 1450 and since 1628 owned by the Cistercense monks, who ordered in that year architect Gherardo Silvani to build the church.
The original design saw the façade of the church on the southern side, towards Borgo San Frediano and the Oltrarno, but the Cistercense monks preferred the façade to be built on the northern side towards the Arno and the city, and commissioned Antonio Cerruti to build the church following these directions. The new construction begun in 1680 and ended in 1689, when Antonio Ferri completed the dome. The façade was never carryed out and remained uncompleted.
In 1783 the convent was closed and transformed in the Archiepiscopal Seminary, which is still active today.
Click to enlarge pictures.
In the spotlight
The interior of the church is characterized by the brightness resulting from the hell plaster and from the light entering from the big windows on the tambour under the dome.
The dome is decorated with frescoes depicting scenes of the Glory of Saint Magdalena (by Anton Domenico Gabbiani) and the Virtues (by Matteo Bonechi).
The chapels on the sides show stuccos and frescoes by great artists of the time, among them: Matteo Bonechi, Alessandro Gherardini and Antonio Puglieschi. In the third chapel on the left one can see a wooden statue from the 13th-14th Century, the so-called Smiling Madonna.
In the transept: on the left, Crucifixion and Saints by Jacopo del Sellaio (1442) and on the right the altar-piece by Francesco Curradi depicting the Glorified Madonna and Saints.
