Duomo and Brunelleschi's dome
The largest masonry dome ever built, raised without central scaffolding.
Duration
2 hrs 30 min – 4 hrs
Best time
First slot of the day
Open
Every day
Entry price
30 EUR
The cathedral was built with a hole in it: the nave was finished in 1380, but nobody knew how to cover a forty-five-metre opening, and the site stayed open to the sky for decades.
Brunelleschi won the competition in 1418 with a solution needing no central scaffolding: a double shell, the inner carrying the outer, laid in herringbone brickwork that holds itself as it rises. He invented the hoisting machines to do it. Four million bricks, sixteen years, and it is still the largest masonry dome in the world.
Getting there
Piazza del Duomo, in central Florence. The whole historic centre is pedestrian and walked.
What the price covers
the cathedral is free; the dome, bell tower and baptistery are on a paid combined ticket
What to bring
- Covering clothes
- Walking shoes
Rules on site
The dome climb is timed, booked online days ahead, and is four hundred and sixty-three steps with no lift, up a narrow one-way stair. Shoulders and knees covered, or you are turned away.
Checked on 29 August 2026 at Opera del Duomo Firenze — Brunelleschi Pass