Florence Cathedral

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Florence Cathedral, called the Duomo in Italian, is the main church of Florence, Italy. Its full name is the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower. The building was started in 1296 in the Gothic style by the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, and it was finished in 1436 when Filippo Brunelleschi completed its huge dome.

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At a glance

Country: Italy
Location: Florence, Italy
Built: 1436
Height: 114 m
Type: Religious building

Quick answers

Where is Florence Cathedral?

Florence Cathedral is in Florence, Italy.

When was Florence Cathedral built?

Florence Cathedral was built in 1436.

How tall is Florence Cathedral?

Florence Cathedral is about 114 m tall.

A cathedral crowned by Brunelleschi's great red-brick dome, a triumph of the Renaissance.

Its walls are covered in panels of green, pink and white marble. Next to the cathedral stand the Baptistery and Giotto's bell tower, and together they are part of the UNESCO World Heritage historic center of Florence. The dome is still the largest brick dome ever built.

A dome with no frame

For decades the cathedral had no roof over its middle, because nobody knew how to build a dome so wide. The dome starts 52 meters above the floor and spans 44 meters, and there was not enough timber in Tuscany to build the usual wooden scaffolding. Brunelleschi solved the problem with two shells of lightweight brick, and they were raised without anything supporting them from below. Stone and marble were used for the ribs, tension chains and the lantern on top.

The building through time

Work on the nave finished by 1380, but the dome was only completed in 1436. The decorated west front that you see today is much younger: it was designed by Emilio De Fabris in the 19th century in Gothic Revival style. The cathedral stands on the site of an older church dedicated to Saint Reparata and is still the seat of the Archbishop of Florence.

Fun facts

Brunelleschi built the dome without a wooden support frame underneath.
The dome is the largest masonry dome ever built.
Building the cathedral took about 140 years.
Brunelleschi's dome was made of two shells so it could be built without a wooden frame.
The front of the cathedral was designed in the 1800s, hundreds of years after the building began.