Santa Croce, positioned outside of the city walls is one of the more prominent and recognisable churches in the city of Florence.The original structure dates from 1212 when St. Francis of Assisi visited Florence, later with a group of his followers, he settled in the city, choosing an inhospitable, marshy area just outside the city walls. This original architectural base was re-discovered after the flood in 1966.The present building began on the 3rd of May 1294 or 1295 (the year is not certain) the erection of the present church began and took years to finish.The church exterior is covered with a polychrome marble façade added in 1863 and paid for by the English benefactor, Sir Francis Sloane. It looks onto the Piazza Santa Croce, which is the site of the annual soccer game in medieval costume, the Calcio Storico Fiorentino.