To the right of the cathedral facade is what's known as Giotto's Bell Tower, even though that early Renaissance painter only designed and built the first two levels of it before his death in 1337.
Frankly, Giotto was out of his league with the engineering aspects of architecture, and the tower was saved from falling in on itself by Andrea Pisano, who doubled the thickness of the walls. Andrea, a master sculptor of the Pisan Gothic school, also changed the design to add statue niches—he even carved a few of the statues himself (Donatello provided others)—before quitting the project in 1348. (Note that the reliefs and statues in the lower levels are all copies, the weather-worn originals now housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo behind the cathedral)
Francesco Talenti finished the job between 1350 and 1359—he exchanged the heavy solidness of the base for a lighter, airier effect, and by 1359 had finished what became known as "The Lily of Florence," a 277-foot-high pillar of marble pierced with slender windows and ringed by marble reliefs.
If climbing the Duomo's dome wasn't enough for you, you can scale this baby, too, in 414 steps —and without the crowds the Dome's ascent draws.
What makes the 25-foot- (84m-) high view different from what you get out of the more popular climb up the cathedral dome—besides a cityscape vista—are great views of the Baptistery as you ascend and the best close-up shot in the whole city of Brunelleschi's dome.
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Piazza del Duomo/Piazza San Giovanni
tel. +39-055-230-2885
www.operaduomo.firenze.it
Daily 8:30am–6:50pm
€15 (covers all of the Duomo Group)
With Firenze Card: Free
Bus: C2; 14, 23, C1
Hop-on/hop-off: Stazione FS SMN (A, B), Piazza Stazione (C)
This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in September 2014.
All information was accurate at the time.
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