Medici Chapels

The Medici mausoleum

The Medici Chapels (Cappelle Medicee), at the rear of San Lorenzo, form the monumental mausoleum of the dynasty that shaped Florence for centuries. They now belong to the Bargello Musei group and are a separate museum visit, not to be confused with the adjoining Basilica di San Lorenzo, which has its own entrance and its own ticket. If you want to see both, plan two separate visits.

Two very different spaces make the appeal: the overwhelmingly opulent Cappella dei Principi and the restrained, more artistically significant New Sacristy by Michelangelo.

The Cappella dei Principi

The Chapel of the Princes is the first large hall and a showcase of princely wealth. Work on the octagonal domed structure began in 1604 under Grand Duke Ferdinando I, to a design by Don Giovanni de' Medici. Bernardo Buontalenti oversaw construction until 1608, after which Matteo Nigetti completed the mausoleum around 1640. The dome rises roughly 59 metres.

The walls are covered entirely in precious marble and semi-precious stone inlay (pietre dure) - a Florentine speciality whose execution stretched over decades. It holds the cenotaphs of six Tuscan grand dukes: Cosimo I, Francesco I, Ferdinando I, Cosimo II, Ferdinando II and Cosimo III. The actual graves lie in the crypt below.

Michelangelo's New Sacristy

The artistic heart of the site is the New Sacristy (Sagrestia Nuova). Built from 1519/1520, it was Michelangelo's first architectural work, a bright, clearly structured burial chamber in grey pietra serena and white marble, conceived as a deliberate counterpart to Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy in San Lorenzo.

Its famous marble tombs carry allegories of the four times of day: on the sarcophagi rest the reclining figures of Day and Night and of Dawn and Dusk, figures of such power and tension that they influenced all later sculpture. Above them watch the idealised portrait statues of two Medici. If you're following Michelangelo's work through Florence, pair this visit with the David at the Accademia Gallery.

Tickets and visiting

Standard admission has been €11 since 1 February 2026 (previously €9). EU citizens aged 18 to 25 pay a reduced €2, and entry is free under 18. Official online tickets are sold via B-ticket, with a €3 booking fee.

• Open Tuesday to Sunday, 8:15-18:50, closed on Mondays. Last entry is 40 minutes before closing, so 18:10.
• If you want to see more, the Bargello Musei combined ticket for €38 is good value: it's valid for 72 hours and covers all five museums in the group, including the Bargello.
• Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month, expect larger crowds then.
• Closed on 25 December and 1 January.

Allow 45 to 60 minutes for the visit. The most pleasant time to go is in the morning, before the streets around the San Lorenzo market fill up.

Good to know

• The entrance is not inside the church, but at the rear of San Lorenzo, at Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6. This is the most common navigation mistake on site.
• The chapels sit in the heart of the San Lorenzo & San Marco neighbourhood and combine well with the nearby Mercato Centrale and the Basilica di San Lorenzo for a half day out.
• For how to secure tickets for Florence's museums in good time, see the guide Booking tickets; for background on Michelangelo and the era, see the guide Renaissance art.