Best Way to Climb & Explore the Duomo in Florence Italy

We're getting an early start this morning and having one of the most epic experiences you can have here in Florence. We're climbing up to the top of the Duomo, which is the greatest dome since antiquity. Let's do this. Many people refer to Florence as the capital of European culture, and it's with good reason. Through scientific and artistic achievements, it became the birthplace of the modern Western world. Today, it's jam-packed with amazing sights, incredible food, and lots of beautiful experiences like this. I'm Angel Castellanos for The Tour Guide, and today I'm gonna give you the formula of how to save time, skip the lines, and have an incredible trip right here in Florence. Florence is Italy's greatest village with a compact city center and pedestrian-only streets. The epicenter of the city is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, aka the Duomo. All of the main sites of Florence are located within a 20-minute walking radius of the Duomo. The Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station is a 10-minute walk to the west. Seven minutes north of the Duomo is the Accademia, home to Michelangelo's David. Seven minutes in the opposite direction lies the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery. East of the Duomo is the neighborhood of Michelangelo and Dante, Santa Croce. Crossing the historic bridge called the Ponte Vecchio, you'll reach the Oltra Arno district, where you can find incredible restaurants and even more great sights. The massive and breathtaking Duomo, or Florence Cathedral, is in a square called Piazza del Duomo. Within the square and next to the cathedral, there are sights to see that you don't wanna miss. First is the 270-foot-tall famous bell tower by the medieval master, Giotto. The baptistry is also in the piazza and should not be missed. The east doors of the baptistry are so special that Michelangelo famously called them the Gates of Paradise. These are copies and stay tuned for where you can find the originals and why they're so important later. To learn more about the groundbreaking Renaissance dome of the Florence Cathedral, I've asked my friend and local guide Chiara to join me for a special tour of the Duomo. How long have you been a licensed tour guide? Since 2009, so now it's been quite some time. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you, I love it, it's fun. After a quick security check and views of the Gothic interior of the church, it's time to start the 463 stairs inside the dome to the top of the cupola. The dome took 16 years to build, showcasing architect Filippo Brunelleschi's genius. Inside, Chiara highlights his innovative techniques, including the herringbone brick pattern and interlacing supporting arches. So basically, I'm in between the two domes. The genius of Brunelleschi is that instead of building one big dome, he built two and structured them to be somewhat working with each other because above you see the flying buttresses, things that you would never see from the outside. Completed in 1436, Brunelleschi amazed the world with the largest dome ever created. Also, the dome was decorated by, or at least the plan for the decoration of the dome was the plan of Vasari. He's getting a poker up his butt. Or that guy who's been skinned alive. Can you see on the right? This is the real part of the climb. Super steep. Let's do this. Brunelleschi's dome of the Florence Cathedral has an external diameter of 54.8 meters, which is 114.5 meters high, and it is the largest brick-and-mortar dome in the world. So tell me, what are we looking at now? So here you have the Church of San Lorenzo, which was the parish, let's say, to the Brunelleschi family. The central market, the one with the green roof that you see right there. The Brunelleschi Palace is this other big, brownish building right there with the yellow top part that is right at the top. And then, yeah, and then you're just taking all of the landscape. You see in the distance the Church of Santa Maria Novella right before the train station. Train station. The tracks, right? And you see even some part of newer, modern Florence. We have the new opera house right behind the train station. You see that gray and white building in the distance. You see our big park, the Cascina. You know, you really have a little. What about this bell tower here, the Giotto Campanile? That's the Campanile of the cathedral, and it was mainly attributed to Giotto. Giotto's been a bit of everything. He has been, as you can see, an architect. He is a painter. We're gonna see him in the Uffizi. So, you know, Giotto has his hands in pretty much everything. Cool. For more epic views and even more room to walk around, check out the exclusive Duomo Terrace Experience. At a height of 30 meters or 100 feet, you'll have even more opportunities to explore the architecture of the cathedral and its surroundings. The terraces can only be accessed on a guided tour and not independently. If you're interested in this exclusive experience, check out our website or links in the description below. I would hate for you to waste your valuable vacation time in a hideous line like this. If you have the Duomo Climb ticket, you can actually come to this line, which is meant for Duomo ticket holders. So the Duomo Climb ticket is a combo ticket. It gives you access to this much shorter line. If you wanna just simply book online or book a tour with us, that's great. The ticket office is right across the street, so it's on this side of the cathedral. Right next to the cathedral is the Campanile or bell tower. Construction started in 1380, by the influential architect and painter Giotto. You can climb the 414 steps to reach the top of the tower, which is 278 feet high. Admission to the bell tower is covered on the Brunelleschi or Giotto Pass. The Opera del Duomo Museum is located behind the cathedral and is where you'll find original treasures of the cathedral like the bronze doors by Ghiberti, statues by Donatello and Michelangelo, tools and models used by Brunelleschi and even his death mask. This compact museum shouldn't take more than an hour to visit and is worth seeing after your cathedral experience. The Hall of Paradise is the first big room after the entrance. Here, you'll come face to face with the original doors of the baptistry that took Ghiberti more than 50 years to make. The feud that sparked the Renaissance began in 1401 when a citywide competition was held for the honor of building the doors of the baptistry. The two finalists, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi would go down in history. Through his groundbreaking combination of science and art, Ghiberti won the competition and went on to create the doors of the baptistry referred to by Michelangelo as the Gates of Paradise. Florence was home to the best and most influential sculptures of the Renaissance. The statues carved by Donatello for the bell tower are located inside this museum. Don't miss this evocative wooden statue of Mary Magdalene. The details of her tired face and withering body display Donatello's passion for realism and her quiet pose is a testament to his understanding of the body. There is no way hometown boy Michelangelo would be left out of this museum. We've all seen the images of the Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica, but the one housed here was sculpted almost 50 years later at the end of his life. Here we see Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Nicodemus holding the deposed body of Jesus. The physicality of the dead weight of the body of Jesus is intense. The pain and suffering in the face of Nicodemus is a self-portrait of Michelangelo himself. With architecture and artworks by masters, there is no doubt the Cathedral of Florence has changed the Western world. Visiting is not only a must, but easy if you plan well. That's it for our time here in Florence exploring the masterpieces of the Duomo. I'm Angel Castellanos for the Tour Guide. Don't forget to comment, like and subscribe and smash that bell to find our next upcoming videos.