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Overview
The St Mark's Basilica, which towers over a crowded square and is a landmark for the surrounding area, is one of the most important churches in the historical centre of Florence. Originally part of the large convent complex of St Mark, it hosted numerous personalities of 15th-century spirituality and culture, including Cosimo il Vecchio, Beato Angelico, Ambrogio Catarino Politi and Fra Bartolomeo. In addition, Tommaso Caccini, known for having inquired Galileo Galilei, lived there, and above all Friar Girolamo Savonarola, who preached against the decadence of customs, only to be hanged and burned in the Piazza della Signoria in 1498. From 1934, Giorgio La Pira, mayor of Florence, whose beatification process is underway and whose body is still in the monastery complex, also lived there. Since 1869, the former convent has housed the National Museum of St Mark, although neither the church nor the adjacent cloister of St Dominic are part of it.
