Florence's once-famed Santo Spirito church reopened on Thursday after a two-year hunt for protection against the vandals and drug pushers that wiped it off the tourist map.
The 15th-century basilica, a short walk across the Arno from the Ponte Vecchio, used to be a staple of tours of the Renaissance city.
The fruit of an original design by Brunelleschi, it contains a long-neglected crucifix by the young Michelangelo, a Madonna by Filippino Lippi, an altarpiece by Sansovino and a sacristy by Sangallo.
Other attractions are copies of a Perugino masterpiece, now in Munich, and Michelangelo's Pieta' in St Peter's.
The piazza outside the church was once one of the most charming in the city.
But for years it has been the haunt of drug dealers, street people and drunks.
Exasperated by growing vandalism and threats to the church's treasures, Prior Ivan Caputo closed it in 2005, hoping to gather funds to protect it.
Local residents and foreign art groups have now provided enough money to pay for round-the-clock guardians, the Friends of Santo Spirito Association said Thursday.
''It will again be free for all to come and enjoy,'' the association said.
''We hope it reclaims its rightful place in the heart of all those who love Florence''.
The new opening hours, from Sunday through Tuesday, are 09:30-12:30 and 16:00-19:00, the association said.
It appealed to authorities to launch a renewed drive to clean up the piazza - described in the 1990 edition of the Blue Guide to Italy as ''one of the most attractive small squares in the city''.
