Santa Croce was begun on May 12, 1294, possibly by Arnolfo di Cambio, and funded by some of Florence's wealthiest families. Pope Eugene IV consecrated it in the 1440s. It is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, called the largest Franciscan church in the world. It is about 377 feet (115 m) long, on a Tau cross plan, with a nave and two aisles divided by octagonal columns.
The neo-Gothic marble facade was built from 1857 to 1863 to a design by Niccolò Matas of Ancona. The Pazzi Chapel, completed in the 1470s, is notably plain, and Filippo Brunelleschi was involved in its design. Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini are buried in the church.
The Arno flood of 1966 brought mud and heating oil into the church, and the damage took decades to repair. The church closed to visitors on October 20, 2017, after falling masonry killed a Spanish tourist, and a multi-year restoration followed.
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