Santa Croce Sojourn

On Wednesday, March 28, the students visited Santa Croce for their Italian Life and Culture class, and Chip and I tagged along. Although I had visited Santa Croce my first week in Florence, it was so much better being there with a professional guide. Not only was she extremely knowledge, but she was so enthusiastic about what she was telling us that the students couldn’t help but get excited about what they were seeing.

We learned that Santa Croce, a stunning gothic church, was built in 1294 as the neighborhood church for the people who lived nearby, many of whom were extremely poor. In fact, during the Black Plague, the church served as a sanctuary for those in the neighborhood who were suffering from this horrific disease. After the Black Plague was over, the authorities had to figure out a way to disinfect the church, and they chose to whitewash over the beautiful frescoes that adorned its walls. I guess it worked, but a lot of great work was lost. And just recently restoration on these frescoes has begun. The whitewash is being carefully removed, revealing the frescoes beneath in various conditions. (When we were told this, I heard one student express concern to another about the fact that they were removing the whitewash that had been used to disinfect the plague. She pondered whether this might cause the plague to escape. Now wouldn’t that be a great idea for a film!)

After learning about the history of the church, we began to make the rounds of what Santa Croce is most known for: its tombs. You see, many famous Florentines are buried here, including Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli. Dante also has a tomb here, although he’s actually buried somewhere else.

Our guide also pointed out the marks that show how high the flood waters of 1966 came. I still can’t believe that water can actually rise this high!

After our tour, we headed back to my apartment for a light dinner on my rooftop terrace. But we made it an early night because we had yet another train to catch in the morning.