The Medici Chapels are two chapels added to the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence. Michelangelo designed the Sagrestia Nuova as a mausoleum for the Medici, intended by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici and Pope Leo X. He worked on it from 1519 to 1524, when it was vaulted, but never finished it and left for Rome in 1534. Vasari and Ammannati completed the work by 1555.
The octagonal Cappella dei Principi has a dome the article gives as 194 feet (59 m) high. It was Cosimo I's idea, carried out under Ferdinand I. Matteo Nigetti designed it, and Buontalenti altered it during construction. Its walls are covered in marble and semi-precious stone inlay, made by the grand ducal hardstone workshop.
Only two of the four planned tombs were completed, for Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino. A hidden corridor with Michelangelo drawings was found in 1976. Entry requires a ticket.
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