In 1250, the members of the Servite Order (Servite Friars or Servants of Mary, a mendicant order of the catholic church) decided to build a church just outside the city walls of Florence. This church was called SS. Annunziata and the SS. Annunziata Monastery was added shortly afterwards.

During the next two centuries, the convent became bigger and bigger and cloisters, refectories and dormitories were added to the original building; the religious complex was completed by Michelozzo, in the second half of the XV century. New buildings were constructed during the following years, as the convent was considered one of the main religious centres of the city by the Medici and the other rich Florentine families.

The Servite Order was dispersed and the convent was closed during the Reign of Napoleon. It was reopened when Napoleon left Italy but it lost again its original functions after the Italian unification, when the Topographic Office of the Italian Army Staff was moved there. However, although the monastery doesn’t exist anymore, the SS. Annunziata church is the most important Sanctuary in Florence