The Badia Fiorentina - church of Santa Maria Assunta
You can reach the church of the Badia Fiorentina from Piazza del Duomo. From behind the cathedral, walk down Via del Proconsolo. It stands opposite the Bargello Museum.
Address: 8 Via del Proconsolo.
Opening hours: the church is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 7:00–19:00, and on Sunday, 8:00–12:30. The cloister (Chiostro degli Aranci) is open on Monday, 15:00–17:30. You can take a discreet look during Mass from Tuesday to Saturday at 18:30, and on Sunday at 9 and 11.
Admission for the cloister: €3.
It has a fine hexagonal bell tower added on the Romanesque base, a useful landmark in the lanes of the neighborhood.
A radical renovation in 1627 even changed its orientation.
The interior was remade in the Baroque manner in the 17th century and holds several masterpieces, among them tombs carved by Mino da Fiesole and a remarkable painting by Filippino Lippi, the Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard.
To the right of the high altar, a somewhat hidden staircase leads to the upper floor of the Orange Tree cloister. Frescoes of the life of Saint Bernard, together with sinopie (a drawing made with a reddish-brown pigment), decorate the sides of the cloister.
