Tourist informations
Entrance from: Via de' Bardi 22.
Opening hours: open on Holydays.
Admission ticket: Free.
Opening hours: open on Holydays.
Admission ticket: Free.
Santa Lucia dei Magnoli is small and very old church flanked by the palaces of Via de' Bardi. Following a tradition, Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Domenico met in 1211 in the hospital that was located at the side of the church.
History
The church was founded in 1078 on the initiative of the noblesman Uguccione della Pressa, and was once known also under the names of Santa Lucia dei Bardi (from the most important family of the quarter) or Santa Lucia delle Rovinate (referring to the landslips of the near hill of San Giorgio).
In 15th Century the church passed under the protection of the family Da Uzzano, who had built a palace near the church palazzo (today Palazzo Capponi delle Rovinate) and subventioned the frescoes in the main chapel. Other noble families (among them, Capponi and Mozzi) contributed to the decoration of the church: their coats of arms are to be seen on the façade and in the interior of the church.
Click to enlarge pictures.
Santa Lucia was frequently damaged by the landslpis of the hill of San Giorgio, and was rebuilt (and modified) in 1732, but subsequent restorations in 19th and 20th Centuries re-discovered the structure and decorations of the 15th Century. The façade was restored a few years ago.
In the spotlight
Exterior: on the façade is to be seen the Lunette in glazed terracotta showing Santa Lucia between two angels, a work ascribed to Benedetto Buglioni (1461-1521), from the workshop of the Della Robbia. There are also some Coats of arms and inscriptions mentioning benefactors of the church, and a Notice by the Signori degli Otto («the Lords of the Eight», commanders of the city police) of the year 1646, prohibiting «to make noise near the church».
Interior: the church has a caisson ceiling and big side altars. Here are to be seen some important paintings: among them, the Santa Lucia, by Pietro Lorenzetti (1280-1348) commissioned by family Del Nente. The first altar on the left is decorated with a big painting by Jacopo da Empoli (1610), the Madonna with the Child and Saints.
From the church one can enter the Chapel of the Madonna of Loreto, where is a Madonna brought to the sanctuary of Loreto by a group of Florentine priests in 1692.
