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The "Duomo": Florence's cathedral
Open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Thursdays: 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Saturdays: 10:00 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Sundays and religious holidays: 1:30 – 4:45 p.m.
1st Saturday of the month: 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
January 1, Easter and Christmas: 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.
Closed January 6
Florence's cathedral stands tall over the city. The church of Santa Maria del Fiore, the cathedral or duomo, of Florence is a vast Gothic structure built on the site of the 7th century church of Santa Reparata, the remains of which can be seen in the crypt. The cathedral was begun at the end of the 13th century in the Gothic style by Arnolfo di Cambio, and the dome, which dominates the exterior, was added in the 15th century. The church was then consecrated and "completed" although the façade was only half finished (it was redone and completed in the 19th century). The exterior is covered in a decorative mix of pink, white and green marble. The interior, by contrast, is pretty stark and plain. Inside, the clock above the entrance was designed in 1443 by Paolo Uccello in accordance with the ora italica, where the 24th hour of the day ended at sunset.
Climbing up the Dome
Open 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturdays: 8:30 a.m. – 5:40 p.m.
1° Saturday of the month: 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.
May 1: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed: January 1, January 6, Thu-Fri-Sat Holy Week, Easter, April 25, June 24, August 15, September 8, November 1, Mon-Tue of the first week of Advent, Christmas, December 26
Built by Filippo Brunelleschi who won the competition for its commission in 1418, the dome is egg-shaped and was made without scaffolding. The raising of this dome, the largest in the world in its time, was no easy architectural feat. At the base of the dome, just above the drum, Baccio d'Agnolo began adding a balcony in 1507. One of the eight sides was finished by 1515, when someone asked Michelangelo -- whose artistic opinion was by this time taken as cardinal law -- what he thought of it. The master reportedly scoffed, "It looks like a cricket cage." Work was immediately halted, and to this day the other seven sides remain rough brick.
The best way to see the dome is to climb its 463 steps: the route takes you by the interior of the dome where you can admire close-up Giorgio Vasari's much-reviled frescoes of the Last Judgment (1572-9): they were designed by Vasari but painted mostly by his less-talented student Frederico Zuccari by 1579. The frescoes were subjected to a thorough cleaning completed in 1996, which many people saw as a waste of restoration funds when so many more important works throughout the city were waiting to be salvaged. The scrubbing did, however, bring out Zuccari's innovative color palette. Continue upwards through the two shells of the cupola and out onto the lantern, from which you can enjoy impressive views of the city.
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