Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

A photograph of Florence Cathedral — Photograph · Petar Milošević · CC BY-SA 4.0

Monday	10:15 – 15:45
Tuesday	10:15 – 15:45
Wednesday	10:15 – 15:45
Thursday	10:15 – 15:45
Friday	10:15 – 15:45
Saturday	10:15 – 15:45
Sunday	Closed

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Per person	Free entry

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Today: Open today, 10:15 – 15:45
Visit duration: 45 min
Accessibility: Step-free
Price: Free entry
Standing: Must see · Heritage site
Rank: Rank 1 of 3,075

Plan a day around this Map

Place details and sources

This place is a Attraction. It was established in 1296. It was built in the Renaissance architecture style. It was designed by Francesco Talenti. It is built of marble. It carries the part of UNESCO World Heritage Site heritage designation.

Official website: www.duomofirenze.it Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Wheelchair access: Available OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Building: Cathedral OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Type of place: Attraction OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Established: 1296 Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Heritage designation: part of UNESCO World Heritage Site Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architectural style: Renaissance architecture Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Religion: Christian OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Denomination: Catholic OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
Material: marble Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Height: 114.5 m Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Francesco Talenti Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Filippo Brunelleschi Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Antonio Ciaccheri Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Emilio De Fabris Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Benci di Cione Dami Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Giovanni di Lapo Ghini Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Andrea Pisano Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Taddeo Gaddi Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Neri di Fioravante Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Andrea di Bonaiuto Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Architect: Giotto Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
Wikipedia article: Florence Cathedral Wikipedia · Checked 2026-09-09

About Florence Cathedral

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral of Florence and the church the whole of Piazza del Duomo is arranged around. Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, the lay body that has looked after the building since the Middle Ages and still runs it, gives its measurements as 153 metres long, 90 metres across the transept and 90 metres from the floor to the base of the lantern, which puts it among the largest churches in the world. The plan is a triple-nave basilica whose presbytery sits inside the great octagon under the dome, with three radial apses of five chapels each opening off it.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

What's inside

The interior is deliberately bare compared with the marble outside, and the things worth finding are scattered rather than gathered. Talenti's pillars and wide Gothic arches set out the naves; the floor is inlaid marble mosaic from the grand-ducal workshops of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and it repays looking down as well as up. Forty-four stained-glass windows light the space, worked from designs by the leading Florentine artists of the fourteenth century and the early Renaissance. On the north wall of the nave are three fifteenth-century set pieces a visitor can pick out without a guide: Paolo Uccello's frescoed clock with its twenty-four-hour dial, and the two vast painted equestrian portraits of the mercenary captains John Hawkwood and Niccolo da Tolentino.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

How long to spend

Allow about forty-five minutes. Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore publishes recommended times for the climbs it ticket-controls, roughly forty-five minutes each for Brunelleschi's Dome and for Giotto's Bell Tower, but it publishes no suggested duration for the cathedral floor, so this figure is a planning estimate rather than a number the operator states. It divides into three parts. The queue on the west front is the least predictable of them: entry is free and unticketed, so there is no timed slot spreading arrivals, and the line can run along the piazza in the middle of the day even though it moves steadily.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Season and crowds

Monday–Saturday 10:15–15:45; Sunday closed to visitors. The Cathedral is also closed to visitors during religious celebrations because of worship. The cathedral is open to visitors Monday to Saturday from 10:15 to 15:45 and is closed all day on Sunday and on religious celebrations, because the building is in use for worship. That closing time is the single most important thing to fix in a plan: 15:45 is earlier than a good many listings and map entries claim, and a mid-afternoon arrival that would be comfortable at most museums can be too late here.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Tickets

General admission to the Cathedral is free, without a ticket or reservation. Brunelleschi’s Dome and the other monuments in the complex have separate admission arrangements. Entry to the cathedral is free, with no ticket and no booking, Monday to Saturday between 10:15 and 15:45. The operator states this plainly and adds a warning worth repeating: there is no skip-the-line product for the cathedral and there never will be, and anyone selling one is not authorised by Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore. What is paid for is everything else in the piazza. Three passes cover the ticketed monuments, all sold at tickets. duomo. firenze. it and at the ticket office in Piazza San Giovanni 7.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Getting there

From the Firenze Santa Maria Novella station area, Autolinee Toscane bus C2 runs from Stazione Via Panzani to Roma Duomo. In the opposite direction, C2 serves Oriuolo Duomo and Olio Duomo. No car is needed and a car is close to useless here. The cathedral stands in Piazza del Duomo in the middle of Florence's historic centre, inside the restricted traffic zone that keeps private vehicles out of these streets during controlled hours, and the piazza itself is pedestrian. Anyone driving to Florence should park outside the zone and walk or take a bus in.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

What to watch out for

The mobility-accessible entrance is Porta dei Canonici on the Cathedral’s right-hand side. A ramp connects this entrance to street level; there is a slightly raised threshold where staff can assist. A tactile route inside includes a model of the Cathedral complex. The dress code is enforced at the door and turns people away every day. Bare shoulders, legs uncovered above the knee and flip-flops are not admitted, and the cathedral page also states that hats are not allowed inside. A scarf or a light layer in the bag solves it; the rule applies to the Baptistery as well, and not to the other monuments in the complex.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Photography

The interior is dim and the contrast is severe, which is the whole problem. Light arrives through forty-four stained-glass windows and lands in patches on a dark stone floor, so a metered exposure will either blow the windows or lose the nave. Expose for the shadowed stone and let the glass go bright, or bracket. A wide lens and a steady hand against a pillar do more here than anything else, since bags are restricted at the door and a tripod is not a realistic piece of kit to bring.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Common questions

Is entry to Florence Cathedral free?

Yes. General Cathedral entry is free and requires neither a ticket nor a reservation.

What are the regular visitor hours?

The Cathedral is open to visitors Monday–Saturday from 10:15 to 15:45.

Can tourists visit on Sundays?

No. The Cathedral is closed to visitors on Sundays and during religious celebrations because of worship.

Does free Cathedral entry include Brunelleschi’s Dome?

No. The Dome is a separately ticketed monument requiring a Brunelleschi Pass and a reserved time slot.

Where is the mobility-accessible entrance?

Use Porta dei Canonici on the right-hand side of the Cathedral; a ramp connects it to street level.

What clothing is required?

Visitors may not enter wearing flip-flops, with bare shoulders, or with legs uncovered above the knee.

Where it is

Nearby

Within 2 min on foot

1 hr 30 min
1 min walk
Santa Reparata, Florence
- Must see · Heritage site
- Museum
45 min
1 min walk
Giotto's Campanile
- Must see · Heritage site
- Historic monument
1 hr 30 min
2 min walk
museo della Misericordia
- Must see
- Museum