The Basilica di San Lorenzo (English: Basilica of Saint Lawrence) is a major church in Florence, Italy and the burial place of the prominent members of the Medici family, including Lorenzo de' Medici.
In 1494 Girolamo Savonarola took over Florence; his Guard Captain then laid a trap at San Lorenzo. Any dissidents seeking to slay the Guard Captain would have to fight within the enclosed cloister, facing not just the Guard Captain but large numbers other guards and Archers. Many fell into the trap, until in 1497, Ezio Auditore da Firenze was able to kill the Guard Captain.[1]
Database Entry
The church in which all the Medici went to die, San Lorenzo claims to be the oldest in Florence. It was consecrated in 393, while still outside the city walls.
Michelangelo designed the inner facade, while Filippo Brunelleschi, the creator of Santa Maria del Fiore's dome, designed the layout. He died before the church was finished and several of his designs were subsequently modified.
Containing nearly fifty tombs, the Medici crypt was intended to house the Holy Sepulchre containing the body of Christ at its centre. However, attempts to buy it and, then, to steal it from Jerusalem failed, proving that bankers can buy a lot of things, but not integrity.[2]