Kursaal & Ausonia

Both monuments are very beautiful and from both the view is great BUT despite the beauty and the peculiarity of Giotto’s Bell Tower, it is only a bell tower!

One of the many bell towers that you can see and climb in Italy.

Brunelleschi’s Dome represents on the other hand a unique experience in the world. For this reason it is in my top ten list!

When you are about half the way up – there are a little bit more than 460 steps in total – you enter inside the Cathedral. There is a passage, a sort of walkway, where you see the inside of the church: you can see from very close the awesome frescos of the inside dome by Federico Zuccari and the magnificent marble floor by Baccio d’Agnolo.  

Continuing to climb you go between the two domes.

The dome is in fact made out of 2 parts: the inner one is the most important (a little bit more than 2 m. wide) because it is the carrying one,  and  the outside dome (about 1 m. wide) that serves to cover and  protect form the elements.

Going through the 2 domes is for sure the best, and perhaps only way to understand the incredible genius of Brunelleschi: you can see the bricks laid in an herringbone arrangement, the beams as well as the machines he had to invent to bring all the material at such heights.

At the top, from Verrocchio’s lantern , Florence is at your feet (including the Bell Tower!)

You enter the Dome from the left side of the church.

It is open daily  (not on holidays and Sundays) from 8.30 a.m. To 7 p.m.