In which Florence basilica is Galileo buried?

Galileo Galilei is buried in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.

Santa Croce is one of Florence’s most important churches and is famous for its monumental tombs and memorials to notable Italians. Galileo’s tomb stands in the basilica’s main body, alongside the remains and commemorations of figures such as Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Rossini.

The burial was delayed because Galileo had been condemned by the Catholic Church for his support of Copernican heliocentrism. After his death in 1642, he was initially placed in a small room near the novices’ chapel rather than in the church’s main burial area. In 1737, 95 years after his death, his remains were moved to a prominent monument inside Santa Croce.

That transfer produced one of the strangest episodes in the story: several relics, including fingers and a tooth, were removed. Galileo’s middle finger is now displayed at Florence’s Museo Galileo. His burial place is sometimes confused with Arcetri, where he died, or Pisa, where he was born. Santa Croce refers specifically to his final, monumental tomb in Florence.