Il Duomo di Firenze

Date: 5/30/18 and 6/1/18
Location: Florence, Italy

The most iconic landmark in Florence is the the Florence Cathedral, or Il Duomo di Firenze in Italian.

To climb up the cupola (translation: dome) you need a timed ticket. We purchased our ticket and reserved a time slot to climb the 463 steps to the top on May 30, 2018. The ticket also comes with access to Battistero di San Giovanni (octagonal structure), Grande Museo del Duomo (museum) and the Campanile (bell tower). The ticket is good for 72 hours from when you first use it.

We first went to the Battistero di San Giovanni.

Here is a picture of the ceiling from inside.

The baptistery was completed in 1128, before the cathedral was planned. When the cathedral was being built the marble bands on the outside were done the same way the baptistery was. The cathedral was started in 1296 and completed in 1436.

After the baptistery we went to the museum where original items from the cathedral, bell tower and baptistery are kept. Below is the original north door of the baptistery that was done by Lorenzo Ghiberti after he won a competition in 1401.

When we entered the museum we had 45 minutes until our timed entry to the cupola and we were a little rushed near the end. Thus, for others interested in checking it out, we would recommend allocating at least 1 hour to the museum.

On the way up in the cupola there was a lookout down into the cathedral.

That also gave us a closer view of the paintings inside the dome.

At the top you could walk around 360 degrees to see in each direction. Below is a picture of the adjacent bell tower.

It was raining off and on so we decided to climb up the bell tower on another day since the tickets were good for 72 hours. We looked at the line to go into the cathedral but the line wrapped all around the building so we also planned to do that another day.

June 1, 2018

On June 1, 2018 it was nice out and in the afternoon we climbed up the 414 steps to the top of the bell tower.

The line in get into the cathedral was still long. No ticket is needed to enter the cathedral so we will check out how long the line is another day.

The view from the cupola and bell tower are not much different, other than seeing the other one from the top. I still enjoyed doing both.