Why are the Medici Chapels the best hour in Florence for $20?
The Medici Chapels sit behind the Basilica of San Lorenzo, five minutes on foot from the Duomo, and hold two very different rooms: Michelangelo's New Sacristy, where he designed the architecture and carved the tombs himself, and the Chapel of the Princes, an octagonal room faced in inlaid stone. This guide covers what the $20 reserved ticket includes, what you'll actually see once inside, and how to time a visit around the rotating monthly closures.
About This Experience
Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6, 50123 Florence, at San Lorenzo
Five minutes on foot from the Duomo, behind the Basilica of San Lorenzo. Florence has no metro; the centre is walked
Daily 8:15 to 18:50, with Monday and Sunday closures that rotate through the month
$20 for a reserved online slot; €9 at the door for walk-ins when it's open
The Medici mausoleum behind San Lorenzo, split between the New Sacristy and the Chapel of the Princes
Michelangelo's New Sacristy sculpture, the Night and Day tomb figures, and the unfinished Madonna and Child
Check Live Availability & Prices
Reserved slots for the Medici Chapels move around the rotating monthly closures below, so check current dates and prices before you plan the rest of the day.
Which Medici Chapels Ticket to Pick
The $20 ticket is a reserved entrance to the Cappelle Medicee, nothing more. It gets you a timed slot into the New Sacristy, where Michelangelo designed the room and carved the tombs himself, and into the Chapel of the Princes next door, an octagonal hall faced in inlaid coloured stone that took three centuries to finish and still is not. There is no live guide included and no audio guide bundled in; you walk the two rooms at your own pace.
This suits anyone who cares about sculpture more than being told a story. The New Sacristy is one room, so there is nothing to navigate and nothing to miss by wandering off script. It also suits a tight schedule: San Lorenzo sits five minutes from the Duomo, and an hour here fits neatly around a longer stop at the Uffizi or Accademia without eating into the rest of the day.
What it does not cover is context. There is no guide standing next to Night and Day to explain who Giuliano and Lorenzo actually were, or why Michelangelo left the tomb designs unfinished. Readers who want that kind of narration before they go might prefer browsing the wider list of Florence museum tickets and pairing this stop with a guided option elsewhere in the city.
Book Your Medici Chapels Ticket
One ticket covers the Medici Chapels; here is the reserved entry that gets you in.
from $20 Medici Chapels Reserved Entrance Ticket
- Michelangelo's New Sacristy
- Night and Day tombs
- Chapel of the Princes
What You'll See
The New Sacristy is the whole reason to come. Michelangelo designed the architecture and carved the sculpture, so the room and its tombs are a single work by one hand, which is rare anywhere in Italy. Night and Day recline on the tomb of Giuliano, Duke of Nemours; Dawn and Dusk lie on the tomb of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino.
Neither duke did much of note in life; the sculpture around them is among the greatest ever carved in Europe. Off to one side, Michelangelo's Madonna and Child sits unfinished, and it is often the piece visitors remember longest.
Next door, the Chapel of the Princes swaps sculpture for stone. It is an entire octagonal room faced floor to ceiling in pietre dure, inlaid coloured marble and semi-precious stone, worked on for three hundred years and still not finished. Beneath the New Sacristy, a small room holds charcoal drawings attributed to Michelangelo, made, tradition says, while he hid there in 1530.
It is not always open, so ask when you arrive.
How a Visit Flows
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On arrival
Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini
The entrance sits behind the Basilica of San Lorenzo, tucked off the market stalls that ring the piazza.
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5 minutes in
Into the Chapel of the Princes
The first room you reach is the octagonal Chapel of the Princes, its walls inlaid with coloured stone from floor to ceiling.
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15 minutes in
The New Sacristy
Down a short corridor, the New Sacristy opens up, smaller and quieter, with the Medici tombs on facing walls.
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25 minutes in
Night and Day, Dawn and Dusk
Take the time here. These four reclining figures are the reason art historians rank this room among Michelangelo's best work.
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40 minutes in
The unfinished Madonna and Child
Set slightly apart, this piece was never completed, and the rough marble around the finished figure is worth a slow look.
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55 minutes in
Back out to San Lorenzo
Exit past the market stalls; the Duomo is a five-minute walk if you are pairing this with a longer museum day.
Know Before You Go
Not suitable for
- Visitors expecting a guided tour with commentary
- Anyone trying to fit five museums into one morning
- Young children looking for something hands-on
What to bring
- A booking confirmation, on your phone or printed
- A form of photo ID that matches the name on the ticket
- Comfortable shoes; the streets around San Lorenzo are cobbled
- A light layer; the New Sacristy stays cool even in July
Not allowed
- Flash photography near the sculpture
- Large bags and backpacks; small ones only
- Food or drink inside the chapels
Insider Tips
A few things separate a rushed stop here from the best hour of a Florence trip.
- Book the earliest slot you can. Closures rotate through the month rather than falling on a fixed weekday, so a walk-up can simply find the doors shut.
- Pair it with the Duomo and the Bargello. All three sit within a few minutes' walk of each other and San Lorenzo, so a sculpture-focused morning works well.
- Spend most of your time in the New Sacristy. It is the smaller room and the reason to come; the Chapel of the Princes is worth five minutes, not thirty.
- Ask at the entrance whether the small room beneath the sacristy is open. The charcoal drawings there are not shown every day.
- Go right after opening. An hour barely changes the crowd size elsewhere in Florence, but here it can mean having the tombs to yourself.
- Do not skip the unfinished Madonna and Child on the way out; it is easy to walk past while looking for the exit.
Where You're Headed
Medici Chapels Tickets FAQ
How much are Medici Chapels tickets?
The reserved online ticket costs $20. Walking up without a booking costs €9 at the door, when the chapels are open for walk-ins and not sold out for the day.
What are the Medici Chapels opening hours?
The chapels open daily from 8:15 to 18:50, though closures rotate through Mondays and Sundays across the month rather than landing on one fixed day.
Which day are the Medici Chapels closed?
There is no single closing day. The Monday and Sunday closures rotate through the month, so check the specific date rather than assuming a weekday pattern.
How do you get to the Medici Chapels?
They sit behind the Basilica of San Lorenzo, about five minutes on foot from the Duomo. Florence has no metro, so this, like everything in the centre, is walked.
What do you actually see inside?
Two rooms: the New Sacristy, designed and sculpted entirely by Michelangelo, with the Night and Day and Dawn and Dusk tomb figures, and the Chapel of the Princes, an octagonal hall faced in inlaid coloured stone.
Do you need to book Medici Chapels tickets in advance?
It is worth it. The rotating monthly closures make a walk-up a gamble, and a reserved slot removes that risk for $20.
How long does a visit take?
About an hour covers both rooms comfortably; the New Sacristy alone can be seen in twenty minutes if time is tight.
Is there a guided tour option?
No. This is a reserved entrance ticket only. The New Sacristy is one room, so most visitors find they do not need a guide to take it in.
What Visitors Say
We almost skipped this after three hours at the Uffizi, and it turned out to be the best forty minutes of the trip. Standing that close to Night and Day with almost nobody else in the room made the whole detour worth it.
Small compared to everything else we saw that week, but Michelangelo built the room and carved the tombs, and you can feel that it is one idea from start to finish.
Booked the first slot of the day and had the New Sacristy to ourselves for about ten minutes. The Chapel of the Princes took five minutes and that was enough for us.