Palazzo Medici Riccardi was the first great Medici family palace, built by Michelozzo from 1444 to 1460 for Cosimo de' Medici the Elder. Its rusticated stone façade established a model that influenced palace architecture across Italy for the next century. The building served as the family home until 1540, when Cosimo I moved to Palazzo Vecchio; it was later enlarged and sold to the Riccardi family in 1659.
The main reason to visit is Benozzo Gozzoli's frescoed Chapel of the Magi (c. 1459-1461), a tiny room where every surface glows with a procession of richly dressed figures winding through a lush landscape. The Medici themselves appear among the Magi's retinue — identifiable portraits in the guise of biblical royalty. Numbers are limited to 10 visitors at a time in the chapel, so a short wait is normal. The Luca Giordano gallery, with its extravagant baroque ceiling fresco (1683), provides a striking contrast on the floor above.