Florence Cathedral - Hike Up the Duomo and Bell Tower
On a recent trip to Florence, Italy, we were fortunate enough to find an Airbnb with the view below from our own rooftop terrace. It was spectacular.
Florence is a terrific city in Italy, one filled with history, art and fantastic food, virtually on every corner. We were there for just 3 days, on the go the entire time, then ending each night looking at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore or Florence Cathedral. The Duomo, or dome, is called Brunelleschi’s Dome, named after the architect. The bell tower is named Giotto’s Tower. Both the Duomo and Bell Tower had been on our bucket list to visit for many years.
Photo credit: Greg Cavanagh
After looking at the Cathedral from our rooftop and from below it was time to climb. We had always wanted to attempt the 463 step climb to the top of Brunelleschi’s dome. And this climb is no joke. As of June 2022 timed tickets are still needed to climb. We purchased ours four weeks in advance (we are big planners). I recommend buying directly from the official website: HERE. We purchased the “Brunelleschi Pass” that allowed us to visit the Duomo, the bell tower, the baptistery, the museum and the cathedral itself.
There are guided tours, but we found we did just fine on our own.
When you start the walk one of the cool things is that you get to walk on an enclosed catwalk above the cathedral. It was beautiful to look down on the altar and through the entire nave. There was some restoration work going on, but what can you expect for a 900 year-old building?
The dome itself is an architectural marvel as is it actually a dome inside of a dome. Think of hauling materials hundreds of feet in the air, with no modern tools?
We then looked up at the interior of the dome, getting closer as we climbed. This was painted by Giorgio Vasari and was completed in 1579 almost 150 years after the cathedral had first opened. It was just painted white before that. How boring is that in this extraordinary building? The mural in the dome is representative of The Last Judgement.
If you are the slightest bit claustrophobic or afraid of heights this is not the tour for you. Also you need to be in a bit of good shape. The entire 400+ step ascent and return must be done in 45 minutes! Once you’re at the top, the guards will move everyone out in time to get back down.
Once at the top, you are rewarded with 360 degree views of the entire region. This is looking back toward the Arno river with the Relais Piazza Signoia straight ahead. Across the river and to the left on the hill is Piazzale Michelangelo or Michelangelo Park. This park is where another replica statue of David stands. We visited that park on another day. The post can be found: HERE
Looking down at Giotto’s Bell Tower to the left of the long Nave of the cathedral. At one time this was the largest cathedral in Europe. It is still the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. It was a beautifully clear day to take in all the sites.
Too soon, the guards told us our time was up and we hiked 400+ stairs back down the duomo.
Once down, we rewarded our hiking efforts with mimosas in a great little cafe just off of the piazza. Hiking to the top was an exhilarating experience we won’t ever forget!
After hiking Brunelleschi’s Dome it was now time to take on the Bell Tower. The tower is named Giotto’s Tower for Giotto de Bondone, a painter turned architect, who started the project in 1334. Giotto was 67 years old at the time. Sadly he died in 1337 when only the lower floor was complete. It took over two more decades, that included 1348 when construction stopped due a pandemic (Black death), to complete.
The tower is 279 feet high and only 49 feet wide. Like the cathedral the tower is covered with white, green and red marble entirely.
There are no timed tickets for the bell tower like the duomo, so we were able to climb on our schedule. If you go in the summer months, be sure to go early before it gets too hot.
There are three levels where you can stop and see the view. (and take a breath!) In total the climb is 414 steps.
It was another beautiful day in Florence as we stopped at another level and looked down at the Piazza del Duomo. The building on the right is the Baptistry, another stop on the 4 ticket tour. Unfortunately, there was restoration going on in the baptistry, so we did not get any good shots inside.
View from the top. Looking straight across to the top of the Duomo we could see where we hiked just the day before.
We made it! Due to the very small walkway around the bell tower, you can see the entire top viewing point is covered with wire. It does make it challenging to get good photographs. But we were still happy to have the chance to climb both of these magnificent sites.
We visited Florence 11 years earlier, just for a day. This longer stay really helped us get to know the city, the culture and the food so much better. I highly recommend a long stay in Florence. We will hope to be back someday too!
