# Medici Chapels, Florence > The Medici Chapels are a museum behind the altar of the Basilica of San Lorenzo with two main parts: the Chapel of the Princes, clad entirely in coloured stone, and Michelangelo's New Sacristy with his famous figures of Dawn, Dusk, Day and Night. It has its own paid entrance on Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini; allow 45 minutes to an hour. Web page: https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/medici-chapels - City: [Florence](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence), Italy - YesGo score: 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Paid, separate entrance from the basilica - Opening hours: By day; closed some days - Highlights: New Sacristy, Chapel of the Princes - Museum: Part of the Bargello Museums - Time needed: 45 minutes to an hour - Location: Behind San Lorenzo, 5 minutes from the Duomo - Coordinates: 43.77520, 11.25312 - Facts checked: 11.11.2026 ## Key facts - **1520–1534** — Michelangelo worked on the New Sacristy (source: English Wikipedia) - **4 figures** — Dawn, Dusk, Day and Night (source: English Wikipedia) - **1604** — work began on the Chapel of the Princes (source: English Wikipedia) - **Pietre dure** — walls inlaid with hard and semi-precious stones (source: English Wikipedia) - **Bargello Museums** — now run the chapels (source: English Wikipedia) ## What the Medici Chapels are The **Medici Chapels** are part of the [Basilica of San Lorenzo](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/san-lorenzo) complex, the Medici family's parish church. Behind the basilica altar the family built two grand chapels, which today form a separate museum with its own entrance at the back of the building. The museum has three parts. You enter through a low vaulted **crypt** displaying church treasures. From there stairs lead up to the huge octagonal **Chapel of the Princes** under the dome, and a corridor takes you to the **New Sacristy**, the heart of the museum, created by **Michelangelo**. The dome over the Chapel of the Princes is the second largest in the city after the cathedral's. You'll spot it from every viewpoint, and from the street it's easy to recognise by its tall windowed drum rising above the San Lorenzo rooftops. ## Michelangelo's New Sacristy In **1520** Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the future Pope Clement VII, asked **Michelangelo** to build and decorate a new chapel as a partner to Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy on the other side of the basilica. He worked on it until **1534**, designing the architecture as well as the sculpture, and carved most of the figures himself. Against the walls stand two monuments to Medici dukes, **Lorenzo** and **Giuliano**. Above each sits a statue of the duke in classical armour; below, reclining on curved marble bases, lie two allegorical figures apiece: **Dawn and Dusk**, **Day and Night**. They are among Michelangelo's best-known works: powerful, weary, unresolved bodies, some left without their final polish. **Night**, with an owl and a mask at her feet, is especially famous; contemporaries wrote poems about her, and Michelangelo answered one with a quatrain of his own. Facing the altar is the **Medici Madonna**, a Virgin and Child also by Michelangelo, flanked by the family's patron saints carved by his pupils. ## What to see in the Medici Chapels - **Night and Day** — the figures on Giuliano's monument. - **Dawn and Dusk** — the figures on Lorenzo's monument. - **The Medici Madonna** — Michelangelo's Virgin and Child. - **New Sacristy architecture** — grey stone against white walls. - **Chapel of the Princes** — coloured-stone walls under the dome. - **Tuscan city crests** — inlaid in semi-precious stones. > **Where the entrance is** The Medici Chapels don't share the basilica's door. The museum entrance is at the back of San Lorenzo, on the little Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini by the market stalls. A basilica ticket isn't valid here, nor the other way round. ## The Chapel of the Princes The **Chapel of the Princes** is a vast octagonal hall begun in **1604** for the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. It was meant to be the family's most magnificent room, and the decoration went on for nearly two centuries. The walls are covered in **pietre dure**, Florentine inlay of hard and semi-precious stones: marble, jasper, agate, lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl. Around the base run the crests of sixteen Tuscan towns, set in coloured stone so finely they could pass for paintings. The dukes founded a special workshop for the job, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, which still operates in Florence. Above all this stone splendour rises a tall dome painted in the 19th century. After Michelangelo's austere, light-filled sacristy, the Chapel of the Princes overwhelms in a different way, with richness, colour and shine. Comparing the two rooms is one of the museum's great pleasures. ## How to get to the Medici Chapels 1. The entrance is on **Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini**, behind San Lorenzo. 2. From [Florence Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/florence-cathedral), 5 minutes on foot. 3. From **Santa Maria Novella** station, 5 minutes. 4. From the [Accademia Gallery](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/galleria-dell-accademia), 8 minutes. ## Tickets and tips Buy tickets on site or on the official Bargello Museums website. Queues are usually shorter than at the Uffizi or the Accademia, but in high season it's worth arriving at opening time. The museum closes on certain weekdays, so check the timetable before you go. Don't rush the New Sacristy: sit by the wall and watch how light from the dome windows falls on the figures. Next door is the [Laurentian Library](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/laurentian-library), another Michelangelo work for the Medici, and [Palazzo Medici Riccardi](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/palazzo-medici-riccardi), where the family lived. Together they make a half-day walk around the quarter. ## Before you go Tick off what's ready — your ticks are saved in this browser. - [ ] Find the entrance on Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini - [ ] Buy a ticket, separate from the basilica - [ ] Study Night and Day in the New Sacristy - [ ] Find the Tuscan crests in the Chapel of the Princes - [ ] Visit the Laurentian Library next door ## Florence's museums: compare and choose Museums and galleries in Florence rated by YesGo. - [Palazzo Vecchio](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/palazzo-vecchio) — YesGo score 52/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · Courtyard free, museum paid - [Uffizi Gallery](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/uffizi) — YesGo score 51/100 (Yes, go) · 3 h · Paid - [Santa Croce](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/santa-croce) — YesGo score 50/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Paid - [Palazzo Pitti](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/palazzo-pitti) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Paid - [Santa Maria Novella](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/santa-maria-novella) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Paid - [Vasari Corridor](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/vasari-corridor) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Paid, timed entry - [Palazzo Medici Riccardi](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/palazzo-medici-riccardi) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Paid - [Orsanmichele](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/orsanmichele) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free - [Laurentian Library](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/laurentian-library) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Paid - [Medici Chapels](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/medici-chapels) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Paid - [Galleria dell'Accademia](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/galleria-dell-accademia) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Paid - [Brancacci Chapel](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/brancacci-chapel) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Paid, timed entry - [Bargello](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/bargello) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Paid - [Palazzo Strozzi](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/palazzo-strozzi) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Courtyard free, exhibitions paid - [Museo Galileo](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/museo-galileo) — YesGo score 37/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Paid ## Michelangelo for the Medici The Medici Chapels, the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Laurentian Library, then the Accademia and David. 1. [Medici Chapels](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/medici-chapels) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Paid 2. [Basilica of San Lorenzo](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/san-lorenzo) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Paid 3. [Laurentian Library](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/laurentian-library) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Paid 4. [Galleria dell'Accademia](https://yesgo.io/italy/florence/galleria-dell-accademia) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · Paid ## Don't mix it up The Medici Chapels and the Magi Chapel in Palazzo Medici Riccardi are different places: the first is a museum at San Lorenzo with Michelangelo's sculpture, the second a private chapel in the palace with Gozzoli's frescoes. ## Tips - The entrance isn't on the basilica square. - Separate ticket from San Lorenzo. - The New Sacristy is the highlight. - The Laurentian Library is next door. ## Questions ### What is there to see in the Medici Chapels? Michelangelo's New Sacristy with Dawn, Dusk, Day, Night and the Medici Madonna, and the Chapel of the Princes with its coloured-stone inlay. ### Where is the entrance to the Medici Chapels? On Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini behind San Lorenzo, separate from the basilica entrance. ### Are the Medici Chapels included in the San Lorenzo ticket? No, they're a separate museum, part of the Bargello Museums, with their own ticket. ### How much are Medici Chapels tickets? Entry is paid; check prices on the official Bargello Museums website. ### How long do you need at the Medici Chapels? 45 minutes to an hour. ## How we checked History and works from English Wikipedia. Prices and hours weren't confirmed with an official source — hence the 'checking' badge. ## Sources - English Wikipedia: Medici Chapels and New Sacristy - Official Bargello Museums site, bargellomusei.it --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.