St. James Episcopal Church, Florence, Italy, Gothic Revival church near Santa Maria Novella station, Florence, Italy.
St. James Episcopal Church is a Gothic Revival church in Florence, located a short walk from Santa Maria Novella station. The building has stone walls, pointed arch windows, ribbed vaults, and large stained glass windows that follow the conventions of Anglican church architecture from the early 1900s.
The church was completed in 1908 to serve the growing number of English-speaking people living in or passing through Florence at the time. Its construction was made possible in large part by funding from American banker J. Pierpont Morgan.
The congregation is made up mostly of English-speaking visitors and residents who attend Anglican services in their own language. Sunday mornings draw a small but steady international crowd, giving the space a community feel that is quite different from the large Catholic churches nearby.
The church is easy to reach on foot from the Santa Maria Novella area, and the surrounding streets are walkable and straightforward to navigate. Access may depend on scheduled services or events, so checking ahead before you go is a good idea.
After the 1966 Arno flood, the congregation raised funds to help local Florentine families affected by the disaster, even though the church itself was not part of the city's Catholic tradition. This gesture made a lasting impression on the wider community and is still remembered by some long-term residents.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
