The church of Santa Croce

The magnificent Baroque church of Santa Croce has an elaborately decorated façade that was begun in 1548 and completed more than 150 years later. The church itself was begun in 1353 but not finished until the same time as the façade. The detailed stone carvings on the portal, rose window, and entire front of the church are almost overwhelming. Lions, eagles, griffons, and human figures support cornices and sprout from capitals amid a profusion of fruit, leaves, and fanciful creatures. The interior is also Baroque, the columns separating nave from aisles topped by heavily adorned capitals and side chapels filled with ornamental stonework. Adjoining Santa Croce on the north is the extensive and also highly ornamented facade of the Celestine convent, which once belonged to the church but is now the Palazzo del Governo.