Santa Felicita di Firenze

The Chiesa di Santa Felicita (Church of St Felicity) is probably the oldest church in Florence after San Lorenzo. In the 2nd century, Syrian Greek merchants settled in the area south of the Arno and are thought to have brought Christianity to the region. The first church on the site was probably built in the late 4th century or early 5th century and was dedicated to Saint Felicitas, the slave who was martyred with Perpetua at Carthage. A new church was built in the 11th century and the current church largely dates from 1736–1739.

The main feature of the church is the Cappella Capponi, which contains some of Pontormo's best paintings. The chapel itself was originally designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. The Vasari Corridor passes through the façade of this church and on the inside there is large window, covered by a thick gate, where the dukes of the Medici family used to listen to the mass without being seen by the people staying at ground level.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Santa Felicita di Firenze".