San Miniato al Monte and Orsanmichele Art Tour

This itinerary is a walk that begins in the heart of the city, at the Baptistery, and leads up to the “The Gate of Heaven” of San Miniato al Monte. A gate that is both tangible and invisible. Its key is under every one’s eyes but only few can find it. To discover it we need to follow the messages of the Angels and to learn their language.

Begin at the Baptistery in front of its great gilded bronze doors decorated with scenes of the Old and the New Testaments. This octagonal building is entirely covered, inside and outside, with geometric decorations, mostly created with marble from the ruins of the ancient roman ‘Florentia’.

The next stop will be Orsanmichele, the most important church in Florence consacrated to an Angel. A unique building that is also a monument to the ancient guilds that governed the productive activities during the Middle Ages. Here the Archangel Michael is the pillar that supports the entire construction and protects the city and its people.

We will continue along the Arno river and we will pass throught the ancient medieval walls of Florence at the gate of San Miniato. From here we will start walking up the hill.

After a quick stop at Rose Garden with Folon sculptures, we will reach the church of San Miniato al Monte and its “Gate of Heaven”. Mysteries and symbols inhabit this sacred space, built following celestial rules and connections. We will enter a space where time and death loose their power, as we can read in the inscription on the carpet of inlaid marble. A space where christian, pagan, islamic and oriental art are living together in a dimension that took shape one thousand years ago and still exists.