Not far from the Mongolfiera B&B one can visit the historic Convent of San Domenico found halfway between Florence and Fiesole.
The convent was founded in 1405 by the Domenican Friar Giovani Dominici and the Bishop of Fiesole Jacopo Altoviti, both coming from the convent of Santa Maria Novella in the center of Florence. The new convent was the second one to be built in the Florence area after Santa Maria Novella, and was nicknamed the "little convent" seeing as it was inferior in size to that of Santa Maria Novella. It became an important center for the formation of new young friars of whom included Antonio Pierozzi who later became the Archbishop of Florence and then saint, and the great painter Friar Giovanni of Fiesole, better known as Fra Angelico, who also painted the original Madonna in Blessing on the walls of the entrance to the little church and the fresco of the Crucifixion done in the Chapter room.
The friars founded yet another convent I around the middle of the 15th century; San Marco, where Fra Angelico worked for many years and the noted Girolamo Savonarola, hung in Piaza della Signoria for heresy, lived his last years.
In 1491, a new wing was added to the convent and later another addition to the wing which later housed the library.
Betwee the years of 1588 and 1590, another new addition was added with the economic contribution by the noble Genvovese , Jeronimo Brignole, known as Friar Cipriano. The new addition was the new living quarters for novice friars designed by the architect Brother Dominic Postigiani, a Dominican of San Marco who designed the structure on three stories and today is home to a section of the European University Institute.
The church of the convent include artistic and architectural contributions by Matteo Nigetti, M. Bonechi, R. Botti and L. Del Moro just to name a few.

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