Ah, Florence! For centuries travelers have been coming here to gaze at its architectural wonders. And if there is only one thing they would all remember, it is without a doubt the Dome of Florence’s Cathedral, also known as Brunelleschi’s Dome. Even if you only have one day in Florence, you can’t miss visiting the Duomo di Firenze.
Table of Contents
Santa Maria del Fiore – a Church Without a Dome
To the people of Florence in the 1400s, the most important building in the world was their Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. After all, it was about time that they had serious Duomo, like the ones in Siena or in Pisa. There was only one problem though: their beloved cathedral was missing the dome.
The church construction had begun back in 1296, but a hundred years later it was still not finished! At the time nobody had any idea how to build a dome for an octagonal floor plan nearly 150 feet wide. As such, the summer sun and winter rains were streaming down through the enormous hole in the roof of Florence Cathedral.
READ NEXT: How to Spend 10 Days in Italy – 4 Suggested Itineraries
A Brief History of the Florence Cathedral Dome (Duomo di Firenze)
In 1418 a contest for the ideal dome design was announced, with a prize of 200 gold florins. The design competition attracted many prominent Italian artists and architects. After many debates and arguments however, the project was assigned to Filippo Brunelleschi, a goldsmith with no architectural training or experience.
When the dome was finally built, it was an absolute marvel! A perfect structure that seemed like the work of God. But what looked like the work of God was actually the work of a man who had the courage to take on an impossible task.
Why is Brunelleschi’s Dome Unique?
The dome is in the shape of a pointed arch with eight sides rising to a central point and crowned by a marble lantern. The exterior tiles conceal walls containing over 4 million bricks and what appears to be a single solid structure is actually two domes, one inside of the other.
The interior dome covers a space nearly half the length of a football field, while the exterior wall raises up 10 stories high above the cathedral wall.
By using a double-shell design, Brunelleschi made the structure far lighter than a solid dome of this size. He wove the bricks into a herringbone pattern to give the dome additional solidity.
Built without the use of freestanding scaffolding or modern machines, the Florence Cathedral Dome is still the largest of its kind in the world. There are many unanswered questions that surround the construction of Brunelleschi’s Dome. How could builders work at these great heights? How could 40,000 tons of masonry hold together without collapsing?
READ NEXT: 2 Days in Florence: the Best Itinerary for Exploring Florence in 48 Hours
The Ceiling of Florence Cathedral Dome
The painting of the Florence Cathedral Dome ceiling began in 1572. Grand Duke Cosimo I de Medici commissioned Giorgio Vasari –a famous Italian artist– to fulfill the task. A great admirer of Michelangelo, Vasari drew his inspiration from the Sistine Chapel. He painted the dome ceiling with frescos depicting the Last Judgement.
The ceiling was divided into concentric rows placed one above the other. Inside each row you can see groups of figures from the Apocalypse. Around the cupola there are the twenty-four elders; below are groups of saints and choirs of angels with musical instruments. Finally, at the very bottom, are the regions of hell and the various deadly sins.
A Marvel of Engineering
The construction of Florence Cathedral Dome was so important that it helped start a whole new era of art and engineering. Many believe that Renaissance was ignited by the completion of the dome on the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
Brunelleschi was a very suspicious and secretive man. He left behind no notes, no pictures, no blue prints. Fearing competition, he even refused to explain how he would achieve his goal and nearly six hundred years later nobody knows exactly how he did it.
For centuries scholars struggled to figure out the secret of Duomo di Firenze. The precision of the construction would be difficult to re-create today, even with the most modern devices.
Climbing the 348-foot-high dome (la cupola del Duomo) is worth doing not only for the great panorama across the city, but also to admire from the inside Brunelleschi’s architectural marvel.
Brunelleschi lived to see his masterpiece, but died soon after, on April 15, 1446. His tomb is in the crypt of the cathedral. The inscription on his grave reads: “Here lies the body of the great ingenious man Filippo Brunelleschi of Florence”.
Florence’s greatest pride – Brunelleschi’s Domo di Firenze – remains to this day a marvel of engineering and an architectural mystery .
Pin it for later:
8 Spectacular Places You Shouldn’t Miss on Kauai Island
Horacio Funes
Can I paint this cover picture of the dome sky line for practice
Anda
Sure, go ahead!
Lynnelle
This is all so interesting to me. I really enjoyed learning about this beautiful architecture. Very well written!
Anda
Thank you Lynnette. Your comment is really helpful and I appreciate it.
Jim
It is good for people to have mysteries. It’s an inspiration for curiosity!
Regina
Climbed part of the Duomo and enjoyed the ceiling so! Wish I had completed the climb but was too out of shape. Truly a beautiful and amazing structure. Enjoyed your blog.
Anda Galffy
Thank you, Regina. Glad you enjoyed reading this.
Stephanie Mayo
It’s the stories like this, behind the mysteries and achievements of these amazing historic buildings that I just love to read. They bring a whole new wonder and awe to these masterpieces!
Linda Bibb
The story of the dome is new to me and quite interesting. We visited Florence and sat on the cathedral’s steps but never actually entered, though if we’d had more time we would have liked to climb to the top for a view of Florence’s rooftops. I must say, though, that the cathedral’s exterior is fabulous and worth a lot of camera time.
Anda Galffy
Santa Maria del Fiore is beautiful and really worth visiting. I climbed the Dome once, 26 years ago, but I still have nightmares about how trapped I felt in that stairwell. I’m claustrophobic.
Amanda
Anda, this is beautiful! It makes me think of our recent trip and how much I love traveling with you and Laci 🙂 Also: thank you for teaching me something new about a city I treasure. I love your blog 🙂
XO,
Amanda
Anda Galffy
Thank you, Amanda. I’m so glad you took time to read about the Duomo.
Laz
You can still see the herringbone pattern of brick layout that stabilizes the inward bending walls while climbing up the top!
Anda Galffy
I didn’t dare go up that spiral staircase, Laz, but I’m sure it must be very interesting to see the brick layout from up close.
Tanja (the Red phone box travels)
Great post! Nice photos! I visited this cathedral too:) Thank you for the link up
Shobha
That dome is amazing – completely dominates the Florence skyline and makes it instantly recognisable. I didn’t know the history behind it – fascinating insight thank you. I only knew of Brunelleschi as an artist and didn’t realise he was an architect too. Of course, it makes sense with the whole idea of being a ‘Renaissance Man’.
Anda Galffy
Apparently he was such a great architect that nobody could figure out as of today how he erected the Dome.
Rhonda Albom
Well done Anda! This is really interesting, and left me wondering how they actually did accomplish this. We managed to go through Pisa and Florence in one cruise port day, and even with a guide didn’t have enough time to learn this. How odd that it sat open for hundreds of years.
Anda Galffy
It’s interesting, isn’t it? The Dome is so impressive that it’s hard to believe it’s not supported by anything.
Ruth - Tanama Tales
Anda, I love this story. It was first explained to me when I visited Florence for the first time. Basically, Brunelleschi took to the tomb the secret about the construction of the dome. I regret not going up to see the Duomo closely when I visited (I have been there two times).
Anda Galffy
I didn’t go in the Duomo either, Ruth. I’m claustrophobic.
Vicki Green
What an impressive feat and amazing with all of the computers and knowledge gained about engineering since that time that how Brunelleschi completed the dome is still a mystery.
Anda Galffy
Yea, it’s hard to believe that in this day and age we still can’t reproduce the construction.
Lydia C. Lee
I’ve been there a few times but hadn’t realized it’s all that…interesting.