Florence Trip Overview
Florence’s remarkable Duomo is the city’s most quintessential landmark. The monument, an impressive construction adorned with a white, pink, and green marble facade and elegant campanile (bell tower), dominates the city’s skyline. Filippo Brunelleschi’s red-tiled cupola caps the building like a crown. Today, the cathedral holds the title of the 4th largest in the world (after St Peter’s in the Vatican, St Paul’s in London and the Milanese Duomo).
Visit Duomo Florence and witness the skill, artistry, and achievements with your own eyes… But before you go, learn a bit more about the events that shaped it, brick by brick.
Florentine cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore is a vast renaissance structure erected on the site of Santa Reparata church from the 7th century. In fact, you can still see its remains in the crypt.
Additional Info
Duration: 2 to 3 hours
Starts: Florence, Italy
Trip Category: Sightseeing Tickets & Passes >> Attraction Tickets
Explore Florence Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Florence’s remarkable Duomo is the city’s most quintessential landmark. The monument, an impressive construction adorned with a white, pink, and green marble facade and elegant campanile (bell tower), dominates the city’s skyline. Filippo Brunelleschi’s red-tiled cupola caps the building like a crown. Today, the cathedral holds the title of the 4th largest in the world (after St Peter’s in the Vatican, St Paul’s in London and the Milanese Duomo).
Visit Duomo Florence and witness the skill, artistry, and achievements with your own eyes… But before you go, learn a bit more about the events that shaped it, brick by brick.
Florentine cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria del Fiore is a vast renaissance structure erected on the site of Santa Reparata church from the 7th century. In fact, you can still see its remains in the crypt.
Visit: Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Piazza del Duomo 9, 50122, Florence Italy
Opera del Duomo Museum
Opera del Duomo, otherwise known as OPA, is the cathedral works committee established by the Republic of Florence in 1296. Its main role was to oversee the constructions and related works on the cathedral and its campanile. After finishing the last missing piece of the complex, the dome, OPA’s main function became preserving the monuments, sculptures and other artworks within the complex. The museum was founded in 1891 to shelter the works which have been removed for preservation. Today, the museum comprises 6000 square meters of showroom space, over 750 pieces of art scattered over 25 room and 3 floors. The main rooms include:
Ground Floor
Corridoio dell’Opera
Galleria delle Sculture
Salone del Paradiso
Sala della Maddalena
Tribuna di Michelangelo
First Floor
Galleria del Campanile
Galleria della Cupola
Sala delle Cantorie
Sala del Coro Bandinelliano
Second Floor
Galleria dei modelli
Belvedere della Cupola
Duration: 1 hour
Visit: Battistero di San Giovanni, Piazza San Giovanni, 50122, Florence Italy
Baptistery of St. John
Baptistery of St. John stands right in front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and belongs among the most important monuments in Florence. Though not the grandest of structures, it expresses its onlookers with decor shaped by geometry and color. Although it’s origins are a bit unclear, historians believe it stands on ruins of a Roman temple devoted to Mars from 4th-5th century AD. The consecration of the structure as the Baptistery in 1128 which makes it the oldest religious monument in Florence.
The Baptistery has an octagonal plan as well as an octagonal lantern with a cupola. The facade, similarly to the rest of the cathedral, features colored marble. However, its most famous feature is the bronze doors, Gates of Paradise. They are so famous that very few people realize the Baptistery has three sets of exquisite doors.
Duration: 1 hour
Visit: Campanile di Giotto, Piazza del Duomo Historical Center, 50122, Florence Italy
Giotto’s Bell Tower
Giotto’s Bell Tower is one of the four principal monuments of the complex. Rising over 84 meters and stretching 15 meters wide, it represents an ideal example of 14th-century Gothic architecture in Florence. It was designed by Giotto (hence the name) in 1334. Though he had started the construction, he passed away in 1337 only completing the first part of the campanile up to the hexagonal panels. Andrea Pisano overtook the project following Giotto’s design up the first two levels. However, Francesco Talenti, was the architect to finish the job in 1359. He changed the design slightly to add two large windows in the upper levels which gave the Campanile a brighter and lighter look without affecting architectural and design integrity.
Similarly to the cathedral, the campanile features white, green, and pink marble. Furthermore, famous Renaissance artists including Donatello, Pisano, and della Robbia decorated it with reliefs, tiles, and sculptures.
Duration: 1 hour
Visit: Cupola del Brunelleschi, Piazza del Duomo Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, 50122, Florence Italy
Brunelleschi’s Dome (Biggest Dome In The World)
The construction of the cupola begun on this rather turbulent note and continued to be the main “drama” of Florence for the next sixteen years. The progress of the cupola became a reference point for life in the city. For instance, promises were agreed to be fulfilled “before the Dome was covered” and so forth. Its outline, unlike any Gothic building, came to symbolize freedom of the Florentine Republic from the dictatorial Milan as well as Renaissance liberation from the inhibitions of Middle Ages.
Before anything could be done, Brunelleschi needed to solve a tough technical issue: no existing lifting mechanisms could cope with raising the heavy materials like sandstone beams. However, Brunelleschi’s inner tinkerer truly outdid himself this time.
Out of necessity, he invented a three-speed hoist equipped with a complex system of gears, screws, pulleys, and driveshafts, was powered by a yoke of oxen turning a wooden tiller.
Duration: 1 hour
