Every principal member of the Medici family from Cosimo il Vecchio to Cosimo III is buried at the Basilica di San Lorenzo, the family's parish church and one of the largest churches in Florence. In 1419 Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici offered to pay for a new church to replace an eleventh-century Romanesque one. Filippo Brunelleschi designed the Renaissance building, though it was completed, with alterations, only after his death.
The church is part of a larger monastic complex. Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy has interior decoration and sculpture by Donatello, and Michelangelo designed the Laurentian Library. The Medici Chapels (Cappelle Medicee) comprise the New Sacristy, based on Michelangelo's designs, and the larger Chapel of the Princes.
San Lorenzo is one of several churches that claim to be the oldest in Florence. It was consecrated in 393 AD outside the city walls and served as the city's cathedral for three hundred years. Today it stands in the main market district as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it suits visitors drawn to Renaissance architecture and the Medici.
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