The Santa Maria Novella quarter spreads west from the centre around the church that gives it its name, the great Dominican basilica with its green-and-white marble facade by Alberti and a fresco cycle that includes Masaccio's pioneering Trinity. The adjoining cloisters and the ancient Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica, a perfumery run by friars since the seventeenth century, are quietly atmospheric.
Behind the basilica sits the city's main railway station, a famous work of 1930s rationalist architecture, making this the arrival point for most visitors and a hub of hotels, cafes, and tram lines. The streets toward the river hold smart shops along via de' Tornabuoni and the elegant Piazza Santa Trinita.