Description
The Duomo of Florence, the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, is the symbol of the city: a huge church of polychrome marble that dominates the center with Brunelleschi's dome, the largest masonry dome ever built.
When it was completed, in the 1400s, it was the largest church in the world. It can hold up to thirty thousand people and stands on the foundations of Santa Reparata, the old cathedral, on a spot where people were already praying in Roman times.
The dome is the reason almost everyone comes. If you climb to the top you see the frescoes up close and reach the panoramic terrace at the base of the lantern, 91 meters above the ground, with Florence at your feet.
Inside, the dome is covered by the Last Judgment, painted by Vasari and Zuccari between 1572 and 1579: 3,600 square meters, the largest frescoed surface ever made. On the inside of the facade is Paolo Uccello's clock, which still tells the hours the Italian way.
Beneath the floor you can descend into the excavations of Santa Reparata: remains of Roman houses, an early Christian floor and the ruins of the old cathedral. At the entrance to the stairs is Brunelleschi's tomb.
The facade, by contrast, is young: from 1887, in neo-Gothic style. The medieval one, left unfinished, was torn down in 1587 to make room for a more modern one that was never built.
Work had begun in 1296 with Arnolfo di Cambio. After Giotto and other master builders, a huge hole remained in the roof: 43 meters of empty space that for half a century nobody knew how to cover.
In 1418 the city announced a competition, and Brunelleschi devised two shells, one inside the other, built without the traditional wooden scaffolding, with herringbone brickwork and cranes designed for the purpose. In 1436 Pope Eugene IV consecrated the church.
The Duomo has seen blood as well. In 1478, during Mass, the assassins of the Pazzi conspiracy killed Giuliano de' Medici. His brother Lorenzo, the future Magnificent, saved himself by barricading himself in the sacristy.
Don't miss
• The climb up the dome.
• Vasari and Zuccari's Last Judgment.
• Paolo Uccello's clock.
• The excavations of Santa Reparata.
Did you know?
• Michelangelo rejected the dome's gallery: it looked like "a cricket cage." That is why only one side was completed.
• In 1475 the astronomer Toscanelli installed a bronze plate with a hole about 4 centimeters wide in the lantern: it projects an image of the sun onto the floor and was used to determine the solstice.
• The golden ball at the top fell twice, the last time in a storm in 1600.
When it was completed, in the 1400s, it was the largest church in the world. It can hold up to thirty thousand people and stands on the foundations of Santa Reparata, the old cathedral, on a spot where people were already praying in Roman times.
The dome is the reason almost everyone comes. If you climb to the top you see the frescoes up close and reach the panoramic terrace at the base of the lantern, 91 meters above the ground, with Florence at your feet.
Inside, the dome is covered by the Last Judgment, painted by Vasari and Zuccari between 1572 and 1579: 3,600 square meters, the largest frescoed surface ever made. On the inside of the facade is Paolo Uccello's clock, which still tells the hours the Italian way.
Beneath the floor you can descend into the excavations of Santa Reparata: remains of Roman houses, an early Christian floor and the ruins of the old cathedral. At the entrance to the stairs is Brunelleschi's tomb.
The facade, by contrast, is young: from 1887, in neo-Gothic style. The medieval one, left unfinished, was torn down in 1587 to make room for a more modern one that was never built.
Work had begun in 1296 with Arnolfo di Cambio. After Giotto and other master builders, a huge hole remained in the roof: 43 meters of empty space that for half a century nobody knew how to cover.
In 1418 the city announced a competition, and Brunelleschi devised two shells, one inside the other, built without the traditional wooden scaffolding, with herringbone brickwork and cranes designed for the purpose. In 1436 Pope Eugene IV consecrated the church.
The Duomo has seen blood as well. In 1478, during Mass, the assassins of the Pazzi conspiracy killed Giuliano de' Medici. His brother Lorenzo, the future Magnificent, saved himself by barricading himself in the sacristy.
Don't miss
• The climb up the dome.
• Vasari and Zuccari's Last Judgment.
• Paolo Uccello's clock.
• The excavations of Santa Reparata.
Did you know?
• Michelangelo rejected the dome's gallery: it looked like "a cricket cage." That is why only one side was completed.
• In 1475 the astronomer Toscanelli installed a bronze plate with a hole about 4 centimeters wide in the lantern: it projects an image of the sun onto the floor and was used to determine the solstice.
• The golden ball at the top fell twice, the last time in a storm in 1600.