Private tour: Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Baptistery, the Bell Tower and the Opera del Duomo museum
Tour with private guide - Exclusive service!
Duration: about 3 hour
Availability: everyday but the first Monday of each month, Christmas and New year’s Eve.
Start time: from 09 am until 4:30 pm, the choice of the time is up to the customer.
THE ITINERARY: the itinerary starts in the Opera del Duomo Museum, where visitors have 1hour and half to admire the original architectures of most important monuments of Florence, the first wooden structure that Brunelleschi used to study the Dome of the Duomo, the shining silver altar, the moving Penitent Magdalene by Donatello and many other Florentine works of art. You can also have a coffee before getting inside the Baptistery and admire the beauty of the golden mosaics that embellish the walls. The tour goes on with the explanation of the external part of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, its decorations and the history of Giotto's Bell Tower.
Children: children under 6 years old not accomplished can participate for free and do not need to be signalled in the reservation form. For children between 6 and 11 years old you have to select the reduced ticket.
The tour price includes: 3 hours of professional guide service with authorized guide, entrance to the Opera del Duomo museum, entrance to the Baptistery, earphones for groups larger than 10 participants. Children under 6 years old do not get earphones.
Once the tour is over, visitors may access by themselves (without the guide) inside the Bell Tower (15,00 euros per person extra charge) and jump to the Brunelleschi’s Dome (20,00 euro per person extra charge, reservation is mandatyory, visitors are kindly suggested to ask information about this visit when submitting the reservation).
GROUPS: this tour can be reserved for a maximum of 20 participants. For groups larger than 20 participants please write an e-mail to info@italy-travels.it
The Duomo Complex
The square of the Dome of Florence is the religious focus of the city. This religious cmplex also comprehends the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Saint James’s Baptistery, the Giotto’s Bell tower and the recently restored Museum of the Opera del Duomo.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is dedicated to the Virgin Many and it is built on the old foundations of the Church of Santa Reparata. The works for its enlargements began in 1296 and were finalized just in 1418, when the huge Dome realized from Brunelleschi finally was ended.
Arnolfo di Cambio realized the very first façade. It was never ended and was dismantled during the centuries. Then, some fake facades were realized and just in 1871 the gothic project of Emilio de Fabris succeeded. The façade by Arnolfo di Cambio is a great trasure for the city of Florence, which is why it is reproduced at the ground floor of the Museum of the Opera del Duomo. The original statues the embellished the façade are placed here.
The Bell tower rises next to the Cathedral. In 1334 Giotto began the tower that is the most important example of the gothic style in Florence. Andrea Pisano continued the works and Francesco Talenti finished them. The hexagonal briquettes of the first level and rhomboidal of the second one tell the story of the arts and crafts of Florence; as these briquettes are extremely precious they are preserved at the first floor of the Museum of the Opera del Duomo.
In front of these two buildings we find the Saint James’ Baptistery: it si the most ancient of the three and it rises on an old roman Domus. The richness of its mosaics reveals a complex narrative pattern that refers to the stories of the New and Old Testament. Finally: the eternal beauty of the doors of the Baptistery, whose originals are inside the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.
