The main square, Piazza Santa Croce, is embellished by typical food stores and handcrafts shops, great restaurants, bars and pubs but especially by the great and splendid Santa Croce Basilica. It is an excellent example of a quintessential ‘Renaissance square’, where perfect and impressive architectural geometry has been designed around the life of the community and its citizens. The best Italian artists have worked and left their works in this church. Among them, Brunelleschi, Cimabue, Donatello and Giotto. Here you will also and the tombs of Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli.
It is very common to meet a friend at the base of Dante’s monument. The statue lies next to the staircase leading to the church. Visiting the church and the many important artists and scientists buried there and take a look at the cloister, the Pazzi Chapel and the annexed museum is absolutely a must.
In Via de' Neri are a few delis. You can easily spot them by the long lines around them. Schiacciata, the typical Italian bread, is stuffed with salami, cheese and season vegetables. A nice glass of wine and the party of good taste can start, right in the middle of the street.