Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SAVVY ADVANCE PLANNING
»
Cut out the queue by booking tickets in advance for the Uffizi and Galleria dell'Accademia.
»
Work out which museum pass suits and buy online.
»
Reserve a tour of the Vasarian Corridor and Palazzo Vecchio; also reserve for Cappella Brancacci
and Cappella dei Magi.
»
Buy tickets for springtime's Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.
»
The Uffizi, Galleria dell'Accademia and most other state museums are shut on Monday. But it's the
perfect day for visiting hidden-gem museum Museo di Orsanmichele, above the church of the same
name.
»
Thursday is the day to catch an evening of contemporary art (for free) at Palazzo Strozzi.
Duomo
MAP
CATHEDRAL
GOOGLE MAP
(Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore or St Mary of the Flower;
www.operaduomo.firenze.it
&
ht-
tp://museumflorence.com
; Piazza del Duomo; free admission Duomo, combined ticket to dome, baptistry,
campanile, crypt and museum adult/child under 14 €10/free; 10am-5pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 4pm Thu,
to 4.45pm Sat, 1.30-4.45pm Sun; dome 8.30am-6.20pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat; crypt 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, to
4pm Thu, to 4.45pm Sat; campanile 8.30am-6.50pm)
Florence's
duomo
, the city's most iconic
landmark, is among Italy's 'Big Three' (with Pisa's Leaning Tower and Rome's Colos-
seum). Its red-tiled dome, graceful
campanile
(bell tower) and breathtaking pink, white
and green marble facade have the wow factor in spades. Begun in 1296 by Sienese archi-
tect Arnolfo di Cambio, the cathedral took almost 150 years to complete.
Its neo-Gothic facade was designed in the 19th century by architect Emilio de Fabris to
replace the uncompleted original, torn down in the 16th century. The oldest and most
clearly Gothic part of the cathedral is its south flank, pierced by Porta dei Canonici (Can-
ons' Door), a mid-14th-century High Gothic creation (you enter here to climb up inside
the dome).
When Michelangelo went to work on St Peter's in Rome, he reportedly said: 'I go to
build a greater dome, but not a fairer one.' One of the finest masterpieces of the Renais-
sance, Florence's famous cathedral dome is indeed a feat of engineering and one that can-
not be fully appreciated without climbing its 463 interior stone steps.
The
dome
(combined ticket to dome, baptistry, campanile, crypt and museum adult/child under 14 €10/
free)
was built between 1420 and 1436 to a design by Filippo Brunelleschi. Taking his in-
