The museum occupies a part of the extraordinary complex of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, formerly the parish church of the Medici family, and particularly enhanced by them. Since the first half of the 15th century, members of the family have been buried here.

The museum is world-renowned for the Sagrestia nuova, a space that Michelangelo created to house the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici, thus creating one of the masterpieces of Italian Renaissance architecture and sculpture.

Part of the museum itinerary is the “Cappella dei Principi”, built from the early 17th century as the Medici mausoleum. It is a grand octagonal building, covered by a vast dome, entirely clad in polychrome marble inlays, where the tombs of the Medici Grand Dukes are located.