Santa Maria del Fiore

Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence's cathedral, is the seat of the Archdiocese of Florence and one of the defining monuments of Western architecture. Construction began in 1296; the nave combines a Gothic structural skeleton with a tricolor marble exterior — white Carrara, green Prato, and red Maremma marble — that makes the facade immediately recognizable across Florentine streets. Its crowning achievement is Filippo Brunelleschi's vast dome, consecrated by Pope Eugene IV on 24 March 1436, raised without traditional scaffolding using a double-shell design Brunelleschi invented specifically for the project. No structure of comparable diameter had been built since the Roman Pantheon. Today visitors can climb 463 steps inside the dome for a close look at Vasari's Last Judgement frescoes and sweeping views over Florence's rooftops; Giotto's Campanile and the Baptistery of San Giovanni complete the Piazza del Duomo ensemble.