Piazza Santa Croce

Piazza Santa Croce is one of the main plazas or squares located in the central neighbourhood of Florence, in the region of Tuscany, Italy.

It is located near Piazza della Signoria and the National Central Library, and takes its name from the Basilica of Santa Croce that overlooks the square.

It is the burial place of many illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Enrico Fermi, Galileo, Ugo Foscolo, Guglielmo Marconi, Luigi Cherubini, Leon Battista Alberti, Vittorio Alfieri, Gioachino Rossini, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Lorenzo Bartolini, Pier Antonio Micheli, Bartolomeo Cristofori, Giovanni Gentile, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories (Tempio dell'Itale Glorie).

On the opposite side to the Basilica of Santa Croce is the Palazzo Cocchi-Serristori, rebuilt in the late 15th century by Giuliano da Sangallo, personal architect of Lorenzo de' Medici.

Every year in June, a field of sand is prepared for the annual Calcio Fiorentino (historic football) games.

The square, with the Basilica of Santa Croce
An aerial view of the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence
The Piazza seen from the Dante monument in front of the church
The Monument to Dante by Enrico Pazzi (1865)
The Calcio Storico Fiorentino