THE BADIA OF SANTA FLORA AND LUCILLA
The church of Santa Flora and Lucilla is situated in the square of the same name previously called Piazza della Posta. It was built in 1278 following the gothic style, renovating an earlier valued church. After that, the adjacent monastery was built in 1315 . The church initially was 4 metres shorter than it is now with three absidal rectangular chapels. It also had one big, high nave with a characteristic double-arched window. The wall on the southern part with two big windows and its stone work shows that this church was accurstely built.
Probably around 1565 Vasari took care of restoring the building, turning it into a more renaissance like chuch. As the work carried on until the 17th century there is a possibility that Vasari's project was changed.
The bell tower was built in the mid-18th century and it is a great example of baroque architecture.
Façade
There is only one photograph remaining of the vasarian façade. There was a big circular window that stood out against the plastered wall. The baroque door, made out of stone, had a decorated tympanum on top. This tympanum had on top a framed trabeation and another tympanum; here you can see the symbols of the Saints Flora and Lucill, to whom the church is consacrated. The main wooden door has rectangular tiles. The entrance is completed by a bizarre staircase, an example of baroque.
Renovation of 1908
The façade had to be renovated in 1908 because the plaster had come down; thanks to this they could discover the remains of the gothic façade. Three solutions were then proposed:
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To keep the elements of the XVII façade together with the remains of the gothic façade
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To remove the circular window to uncover the double arched gothic window and modify the façade’s decoration to make the graft of the vasarian expansion visible on the pre-existing church
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To ripristinate the ancient gothic façade
The church was renovated following some of the features of the second proposal, mixing renaissance and gothic styles. This restyling is absurd and wrong with the method, in fact it does not even match with the renaissance-like inside.
Southern side
There are some portions of this side left in the adjacent monastery; these haven’t varied since the 1200 and they still have two double-arched windows that resemble the ones that are in the façade.
Nothern side
This runs along Via Cavour, its style is a bit anonymous yet characterised by lunettes that brighten the church. Two are high above, near the transept, three small ones brighten the lateral chapels. Nevertheless, the movement is created by disjointed volumes due to the staggered coverings.
The façade on the back
This side of the church is accesible by a private garden and includes the apse and the sacristy. The façade, not so important in terms of architecture, is not well taken care of.
The bell tower
The octagonal bell tower was designed by Gregorio Ricciardetti adn between 1649-1650 it was built up to the second floor. It was completed by Ferdinando Ruggeri in 1711. It has several floors which have openings that differ in size and shape; from below a balustrade can be noticed. It has internal columns, rounded arches and round and octagonal shaped openings with no decoration.
Ex-benedectine monastery of Sante Flora and Lucilla
Due to the bombings of WWII there is not much left of the monastery: a small cloister and a bigger one. The latter was designed by Giuliano da Maiano in 1470; its construction only started in 1489.
The inside of the church
The inside was designed by Giorgio Vasari: there are a barrel vault nave and two barrel vault aisles; in addition to these there are also three columns and four rectangular spans on two sides. There is another rectangular space in the nave, which is the choir. The plan of the church resembles that of San Salvatore in Venice or San Giustino in Padua, all designed by Vasari. However the vasarian project was not fully respected (maybe to save money) so that all the vaults are not as high as they should have been. The principal dome wasn’t built, the apse changed its shape and the lateral chapels are uneven.
There are two main domes; the first one a simple hemispheric dome whilst the second one, above the fourth spani is painted on canvas. The painting is suggestive with its depth and perspective. There are other domes above the minor chapels built along the side walls.
The passages between the nave and the aisles are characterised by an elegant decoration, repeated four times in the church, arched in the centre and forming architraves at the sides. The structure follow the vasarian design and it can be inscribed in a square with an 8 metres side with ratio 1:1.
A dichromatism can be noticed between the gray columns and the white walls; this plain decoration was taken from the Cappelle Medicee.