The Church of Santa Trinita, or St. Trinity Church, overlooks the square of the same name and can easily be reached by walking down via de' Tornabuoni, one of the most elegant streets in Florence's city center, down towards the Arno River.
The Santa Trinità church was erected in the 13th century. It was rebuilt several times and the present Baroque façade was made only at the end of the 16th century by Bernardo Buontalenti. The interior was restored in Gothic style at the end of the 19th century. The church is famous for the Sassetti Chapel decorated in 1486 by Domenico Ghirlandaio with frescoes of the life of St Francis.
Commissioned by Vallombrosan Benedictine monks, the Santa Trinita Church was founded in the middle of the 11th century. Originally located just off the ancient city walls, the church was incorporated into the city center when the second walls were built in 1172-1173.
The ancient medieval building is still partially visible inside as you look at the "counter-facade". The current facade was designed in 1500 by Bernardo Buontalenti, one of the main Mannierist artists in Tuscany, and displays scuplteres by Giovanni Caccini.
The Church of Santa Trinita belonged to the Strozzi family and then passed to the Medici family. In 1400 many important painters worked for the church (the Sassetti Chapel by Ghirlandaio was completed between 1483-1486).

The Davanzati Chapel is dedicated to Giuliano Davanzati. Inside the chapel stands the Sarcofago del buon pastore - Sarcophagus of the Good Shepherd by Rossellino (1444) who used a Roman sarcophagus. On it, a shepherd is depicted with lambs portrayed in a very dour way; in fact the man almost seems a monk.
In the chapel a beautiful Crowned Virgin by Bicci di Lorenzo is displayed.
The chapel also has a fresco portraying Saint John Gualberto (founder of the Vallombrosan Order) by Neri di Bicci (mid 1400) was moved here from the Church of San Pancrazio. The fresco reminds one of works by Masaccio, but the figures look stiller. There is also an Annunciation by Neri di Bicci.
The Spini Chapel houses the fresco of the Holy Bishop by Alessio Baldovinetti. In the chapel a wooden statue (almost full size) depicts Magdalene by Desiderio da Settignano that looks like the Magdalene by Donatello.
The Saint John Gualberto Chapel commemorates the founder of the Vallombrosan Order whose relics are preserved here. It was built as a gift to the church by the monks, and it was designed and created to look like a real yet small casket. Frescoes were painted by Passignano at the end of the 1500s.
Commemorating Benozzo Federighi, Bishop of Fiesole who died in 1450, the Benozzo Federighi funerary monument was created by Luca della Robbia (1454). The monument's frame is made of majolica using the "opus sectile" technique: every oval is made of small tiles that create a mosaic (it's one of the first examples of the use of majolica for funerary monuments).
Main Altar | In 1500, the original chancel was taken apart by Buonatalenti, one part was completely removed while another was just moved back. The altar houses a beautiful polyptych: S. Anthony, S. Michael, S. Francis and S. Julian and in the center God and Jesus (in smaller proportion).
The Doni Chapel houses a fresco depicting a Blessing Christ by Bicci di Lorenzo. Inside, a crucifix also stands.
The Sassetti Chapel is one of the most beautiful and rich chapels in the church. In the center is a painting depicting the birth of Jesus "The Adoration by the Shepherds". It dates back to 1585 and is signed by Ghirlandaio, as well as all of the frescoes in the chapel. The members of the Sassetti family who commissioned the work are themselves portrayed within the frescoes, as in Masaccio's Trinità.
The frescoes depicting Stories of San Francis are really beautiful. These date back to the same period (1500s). In the middle, a miracle attributed to San Francis is portrayed: it depicts a child fallen down from a window in the Palazzo Spini ("revived child"), the palace right in front of Santa Trinita, an event that horrified the population. Because it heppened in Piazza Santa Trinita, the fresco shows how the square looked like at that time (the church frescoed doesn't have the Romanesque facade).
The sacristy entrance stands to the right of the Sassetti Chapel. Originally it was the Strozzi Chapel, designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. On the altar used to stand the Adoration of the Magi by Gentile da Fabriano, now displayed at the Uffizi Gallery. Onofrio Strozzi wanted a monument to commemorate Saint Onofrio and Saint Nicholas, which was made by Michelozzo. The chapel also houses also a Pietà by Barbieri.
The last chapel by the entrance on the right, the Bartolini - Salimbeni Chapel, is enriched by a valuable cycle of frescoes, Life of the Virgin, a work by Lorenzo Monaco (1420-25). Signed by the same artist is also the beautiful wooden painting of the Annunciation in the same chapel.

Even though the Italian word for trinity is trinità, with an accent indicating stress on the last vowel, the Florentine pronunciation puts the stress on the first vowel, and the name is therefore written without an accent; sometimes, it is accented as trìnita to indicate the unusual pronunciation.

Beyond Bernardo Buontalenti's late-16th-century facade lies a dark church, rebuilt in the 14th century but founded by the Vallombrosans before 1177. The third chapel on the right has what remains of the detached frescoes by Spinello Aretino , which were found under Lorenzo Monaco's excellent 1422 frescoes covering the next chapel down.