The Gate of Paradise: Duomo Complex Museum Tour
Florence, Italy
Rating: 
Trip Type: Skip-the-Line Tours
Duration: 3 hours
Discover the grandest monumental complex of Florence, where masters like Giotto, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo competed over the centuries to create the greatest artistic and architectural expression of Christianity
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Discover the grandest monumental complex of Florence, where masters like Giotto, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo competed over the centuries to create the greatest artistic and architectural expression of ChristianityStart this journey with an in-depth visit of the newly reopened Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, the largest concentration of Florentine monumental sculpture in the world, and the ideal place to learn about the architectural designing and stylistic evolution of the Cathedral and all its related monuments.
Most of the masterpieces on display were specifically designed to adorn the interior or exterior of the religious monuments that still stand on the museum's doorstep and which today form a single group known as the “Great Museum of the Cathedral”: the Baptistry of San Giovanni, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) and Giotto's Bell Tower. Discover masterpieces by Arnolfo di Cambio, Ghiberti, Donatello, Della Robbia, Pollaiolo, Verrocchio, Michelangelo (including an incredible "Pietà").
The impressive museum’s main hall evokes the city square corresponding to the “Paradise” of Florence, with the Cathedral to the East and the Baptistery to the West. See the imposing 1:1 reconstruction of the earliest cathedral facade, never completed and finally dismantled in 1587, reconstructed here on the basis of a 16th-century drawing, making it possible to place many of the statues carved for it in their original positions.
Learn how the massive self standing cathedral dome was built and how it can still firmly dominate Florence skyline after 600 years, withstanding lightning, earthquakes and the passage of time.
After this comprehensive focus, and a break to enjoy a gelato (Italian ice-cream) or espresso coffee, visit the Baptistry of San Giovanni, a jewel in white and green marble, with its magnificent mosaics inside and the superb bronze doors, including the renowned East Door, that Michelangelo called “the Gates of Paradise”, to underline the extraordinary quality of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s masterpiece, worthy of the kingdom of heaven.
And finally, the focus on Florence Duomo: the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which is also often considered the symbol of the city.
Designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the cathedral is the third largest church in the world (after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London) and it was the largest church in Europe when it was completed in the 15th century.
You will also have the chance to visit the cathedral Crypt, which houses the remains of the old basilica of Santa Reparata, the most tangible evidence of early Christianity in Florence.
A nice and interesting booklet on the tour and the city will be our present that you can take back home with you to remember this wonderful experience.
Included in the price of this tour, clients will have the opportunity to visit by themselves the other locations of the Great Museum of the Cathedral in the next 48 hours, like Brunelleschi's Dome and Giotto's Bell Tower.
Most of the masterpieces on display were specifically designed to adorn the interior or exterior of the religious monuments that still stand on the museum's doorstep and which today form a single group known as the “Great Museum of the Cathedral”: the Baptistry of San Giovanni, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) and Giotto's Bell Tower. Discover masterpieces by Arnolfo di Cambio, Ghiberti, Donatello, Della Robbia, Pollaiolo, Verrocchio, Michelangelo (including an incredible "Pietà").
The impressive museum’s main hall evokes the city square corresponding to the “Paradise” of Florence, with the Cathedral to the East and the Baptistery to the West. See the imposing 1:1 reconstruction of the earliest cathedral facade, never completed and finally dismantled in 1587, reconstructed here on the basis of a 16th-century drawing, making it possible to place many of the statues carved for it in their original positions.
Learn how the massive self standing cathedral dome was built and how it can still firmly dominate Florence skyline after 600 years, withstanding lightning, earthquakes and the passage of time.
After this comprehensive focus, and a break to enjoy a gelato (Italian ice-cream) or espresso coffee, visit the Baptistry of San Giovanni, a jewel in white and green marble, with its magnificent mosaics inside and the superb bronze doors, including the renowned East Door, that Michelangelo called “the Gates of Paradise”, to underline the extraordinary quality of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s masterpiece, worthy of the kingdom of heaven.
And finally, the focus on Florence Duomo: the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which is also often considered the symbol of the city.
Designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the cathedral is the third largest church in the world (after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London) and it was the largest church in Europe when it was completed in the 15th century.
You will also have the chance to visit the cathedral Crypt, which houses the remains of the old basilica of Santa Reparata, the most tangible evidence of early Christianity in Florence.
A nice and interesting booklet on the tour and the city will be our present that you can take back home with you to remember this wonderful experience.
Included in the price of this tour, clients will have the opportunity to visit by themselves the other locations of the Great Museum of the Cathedral in the next 48 hours, like Brunelleschi's Dome and Giotto's Bell Tower.
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