Buildings

S. Firenze a

According to Stefano Rosselli, the church of San Firenze, like Sant'Apollinare and Santa Maria in Campo, originally stood just outside the city's oldest city walls (primo cerchio). It was named among the original thirty-six parishes of the city. In the seventeenth century it was given to the Oratorian fathers, an order established by Florentine Filippo Neri, who was canonized in 1622. Fathers Pietro Bini and Francesco Cerretani came from Rome to start a community in Florence. After receiving the church of San Firenze, they set out on a restoration campaign, leaving little of the original structure, most of which was torn down in 1650.

Among the original patrons of the church was Bese Magalotti, who had paid to restore and enlarge the old choir in 1276. The Magalotti, together with Mancini family, were ancient parishioners and patrons of San Firenze. In 1643, with the consent of these families, medieval towers were torn down to enlarge the piazza, as remembered in an inscription noted by Rosselli. In 1648, a generous endowment from Giuliano di Giuliano Serragli helped build the new church on a model attributed to Pietro da Cortona. The church reached its current dimensions only in the 1770s.