“Who here has ever gotten bored on a tour?”

After a few embarrassed hands are raised, I raise my own. I then introduce myself: an undergraduate student majoring in history and English studying abroad in Florence, Italy. I invite my tour group to step over 800 years into the past with me, saying, “Welcome to the Church of Santa Maria Novella.”

Becoming a tour guide at Santa Maria Novella (Figure I) via SAI’s Global Leadership Certificate Program has helped me forge a more intimate relationship with the history of Florence. You certainly do not need to be a guide for this to happen–walking the streets of Florence, you encounter history at every turn. On your way to class, you step over spots where heretics burned, battles were fought, and artists convened. Even if you don’t think of yourself as an avid “history-lover,” engaging with Florentine history during your visit is essential to your time here. How can you engage history? One way is to make your time in museums and churches more meaningful by reading up on the location beforehand, getting information from the front desk, and saying yes to tours–like my tour at Santa Maria Novella (Figure 2)!

As a tour guide, I am obligated to send you on a final quest inside Santa Maria Novella. Go to the Basilica and find the Strozzi Chapel. On your right wall, you will see a vivid painting by Filippo Lippi (Figure 3). Find the creature, recoiling under the power of St. Philip–and you will have found a dragon in Florence.

There are, of course, many more magical things to be found in Florence. Immersing yourself in Italian history, so that everything you see is imbued with further meaning, will leave you with your very own cobblestoned-treasure map. So, look out for frescoes, commemorative plaques, and watchful eyes of statues. You never know what you might find. Who knows! You might even find a dragon.

Written by: Ellis, Spring 2024 Florence student from University of South Carolina