The entrance to the Medici Chapels is completely independent and is located at the back of the church, in Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, which is always crowded and dominated by the Baroque dome of the Cappella dei Principi, or Chapel of Princes. It almost seems like the entrance to a museum, but you shouldn't forget that you're entering the great burial ground of the family that marked the city's history from the 1400s to the 1700s!
Once past the entrance, you'll find yourself in a large, dimly lit basement supported by robust pillars: this is the crypt of the Chapel of Princes. The tombstones you see in the lateral niches and in the passages belong exclusively to members of the Medici family.
In a dramatic turn, you suddenly pass from the darkness of the crypt into the impressive Baroque scenery of the chapel.
The Grand Duke Ferdinando chose this large octagonal hall as the home of the family mausoleum at the end of the 16th century: to decorate the hall he founded the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, or Workshop of semi-precious stones, which specialized in colored marble and semiprecious stones, purchased from all over the world, for the coatings of architecture and furnishings.
