Although Florence is best known for its Renaissance art, there are also important remnants of the Romanesque period, monuments that inspired many key Renaissance architects.

Battistero – Piazza San Giovanni - St John’s Baptistery, a Romanesque octagonal-shaped building, was built during the 11th and12th centuries and, according to tradition, stands on the site of a temple dedicated to Mars and where a statue of the god, considered a patron of Florence before the town became Christian, was recovered. This is probably the first Christian building built within Florence’s first set of city walls, which stretched northwards to the nowadays via Cerretani and along the left side of the Cathedral and which was then dedicated to St John Baptist, patron saint of Florence. The outside is entirely decorated with a geometric pattern of white marble from Carrara and green marble from Prato, which were later used to cover the facade and the exterior walls of the cathedral and of other churches. Inside the Baptistery, the dome is decorated with Romanesque mosaics and the structure features a matroneum, or women’s gallery. The design of the inlaid marble floor features a zodiac rose on the east side near the renowned Gate to Paradise. The octagonal baptismal font was removed in the 16th century and its remnants are now at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. The  Baptistery also features three magnificent bronze doors, of which the most famous is the “Gate to Paradise” by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1425-1452), which has now been replaced with a copy (the original is held by Museo dell’Opera del Duomo).

Basilica di S. Miniato – Via Monte alle Croci – Another Florentine Romanesque architectural masterpiece, the basilica was built during 11th and 13th centuries. The splendid facade is in white and green marble and at its centre is a mosaic of St Minias, the Virgin Mary and Christ. Many parts of the church, including the top of the facade, feature an eagle clutching a bale of cloth, the emblem of the cloth merchants’ guild (Arte di Calimala). The guild financed the construction of the Church, which stands on the site of a small oratory dedicated to the Christian martyr Minias. Legend has it that St Minias was beheaded by the Arno river and is believed to have picked up his head and walked up the hill, where he died. An oratory was erected on the site and was then used to build a church in 1018. Inside the church is magnificent marble flooring depicting the zodiac; the ancient structure of the Church consists of a raised chancel with a crypt underneath featuring Romanesque capitals. The church holds a series of very valuable works, such as the Chapel of the Crucifix by Michelozzo with three terracotta-glazed vaults by Luca della Robbia and the Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal, also decorated by Luca della Robbia and maybe also by Andrea della Robbia and by Alessio Baldovinetti.

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 Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli – Piazza del Limbo – This is one of Florence’s most notable churches for its location, a quiet corner in the town’s Medieval area which remained almost untouched throughout the centuries, for the pure lines of its design and for the dim glow of the inside. The church holds the flint that Pazzino de’ Pazzi brought to Florence on his way back from the first crusade which ended in 1099. The stone was used to distribute the sacred fire to the people of Florence and in the traditional ceremony of the Explosion of the Cart (Scoppio del Carro) which takes place at Easter, to light the dove-shaped rocket (colombina) that hits the cart (Brindellone). .