The church of Santa Maria Novella and its annexed cloisters and refectory can now
be visited with one single ticket, thanks to an agreement signed earlier this
month by the City of Florence and the Fondo Edifici di Culto of the Ministry of
Interior. Previously, visitors toured the church, which was managed by the
Opera per Santa Maria Novella, and had to buy a separate ticket to see the
famed Green Cloister, which features a fresco by Paolo Uccello, and the Spanish
Chapel, both managed by the city-owned Museum of Santa Maria Novella and with
different hours.
The single-entry ticket and coordinated hours permit a more cohesive understanding of the Santa Maria
Novella complex and how it functioned as a Dominican monastery, which, in
addition to the church, also featured spaces for meetings, meals and
meditation.
For visitors, single tickets cost 5 euro for adults, 3.50 euro for students and seniors; entry is free for
residents of Florence. The new combined hours are Monday through Thursday, 9am
to 5:30pm; Friday 11am to 5:30pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday and holidays noon
to 5pm in the summer months, 1pm to 5pm in the winter months.
Off the Green Cloister is the Great Cloister, decorated with late-sixteenth-century frescoes of the life of
Saint Domenic and other Dominican saints. Currently part of the Scuola
Marescialli e Brigadieri dei Carabinieri, it will now be open on Florentine or
religious holidays. The next scheduled openings of this rarely viewed space are
November 30, December 8, 9, 21-24, 29-31 and January 4-7.
