Not far from our apartment, the Chiesa di Sant'Egidio, or Church of Sant'Egidio, is located in the oldest still active hospital in Florence. The hospital dates from 1285 and the church dates from 1419. (The 1419 church replaced a much earlier church and monastery.)
While the hospital is large, the church is on the smaller side relative to other Florentine churches. What it lacks in scale, it makes up for in beauty.
So, who was Sant'Egidio? Well, he lived about 14 centuries ago in what is now France. He is better known by his French name Saint Gilles. Sant'Egidio was a hermit living alone in the forest. His only companion was a deer. He was revered for his austere, pure life and a monastery was built for him ad his followers. The example of his life spread far and wide, including Florence hundreds of years after his death.
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