In which Florentine church is Michelangelo buried?

In which Florentine church is Michelangelo buried? The answer is the Basilica of Santa Croce.

Michelangelo died in Rome on 18 February 1564, aged 88. Although he spent much of his later life in Rome, he had a strong attachment to Florence, the city of his birth and artistic formation. His family arranged for his body to be taken back to Florence for burial, fulfilling his wish to rest there.

His monumental tomb stands inside Santa Croce and was designed by Giorgio Vasari. It combines sculpture and architecture, with allegorical figures representing Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The monument was commissioned by Michelangelo's heir, Lionardo Buonarroti, and took more than a decade to complete.

Santa Croce is sometimes called the “Temple of the Italian Glories” because it contains the tombs or memorials of many major Italian figures. Galileo Galilei, Machiavelli and the composer Rossini are also associated with the basilica. It is distinct from Florence Cathedral and San Lorenzo, both important churches with different historical burial associations.