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CHURCHES IN FLORENCE
SANTA MARIA NOVELLA		SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE (DUOMO)
	The Dominican friarsi began to build t he church in 1246 on the site of the 10th-century Dominican oratory of S. Maria delle Vigne. The nave and aisles went up in 1279 and the building was finished in the middle of the 14th century with the campanile and the Sacristy by Jacopo Talenti.		The church of Santa Maria del Fiore (better know as the Cathedral) was the result of an architectonic project studied by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296. The Dome was a work of Brunelleschi while the façade was completed in late 1800.
SANTA CROCE		SAN LORENZO
	The building of the church started in 1924 according to Arnolfo di Cambio's project but in reality was consacrated in 1443 in the presence of Eugenio IV. The Church was gradually enriched by donations from the rich, florentine families who were allowed.		The oldest church in Florence is the San Lorenzo church. It was consacrated in 393 a.c. by S. Ambrogio and dedicated to Lorenzo martyr; little is left of the church today.
SANTO SPIRITO		S.S. ANNUNZIATA
	In 1444 Brunelleschi started building the church of Santo Spirito and was continued (and finished, in 1487) by Gaiole and Sant'Andrea who followed only in part, the original project of Brunelleschi. The high church steeple was built by Baccio D'Agnolo (1502).		The church rises where once there was the oratorio dei Servi di Maria. The church was rebuilt between 1440 and 1481 thanks to Michelozzo who built the first cloister and to Dell'Alberti who made many changes (the circular pulpit).
SAN MINIATO		SAN MARCO
	Thechurch of San Miniato was started in the xi century and is, after the battistery, the best example of the Roman Florentine style.		Michelozzo rebuilt and expanded this convent for Cosimo the Elder, and it still contains the splendid frescoes that Beato Angelico painted to decorate the monks' cells. Inside there is also a beautiful library that Michelozzo designed in 1448; this, the first public library of the Renaissance, contains many fine illuminated manuscripts.