Florence Duomo

Santa Maria del Fiore is the church itself, the long marble nave under the dome, and you walk in without a ticket. The Opera del Duomo opens it to visitors Monday to Saturday from 10:15 to 15:45. On Sundays and religious celebrations the cathedral is closed to visitors and open for worship only, so a Sunday plan means the dome, the Baptistery and the museum, never the nave.

The single free entrance is on the facade, and the line forms along the north side toward Via dei Servi. Pass holders use a reserved door and skip that line, which is the one practical reason to walk in with a Ghiberti Pass even if you never climb anything.

Inside, the nave feels bare after the facade. The colour is all above you. The inside of the dome carries the Last Judgement, begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1572 and finished by Federico Zuccari in 1579, 3,600 square metres of fresco that reads best from the floor of the crossing, because from the dome gallery you stand inches from the damned. On the left wall near the entrance, Paolo Uccello's clock of 1443 still runs and still counts twenty-four hours from sunset, with the single hand moving anticlockwise. A few bays further, Domenico di Michelino's 1465 panel shows Dante holding his Comedy in front of the city, the dome already complete behind him. Below the floor, the crypt of Santa Reparata holds the earlier church and Brunelleschi's tomb, and that part takes a pass.

Walk out and round to the north side. The Porta della Mandorla, the almond door, is where the dome climb begins, and its gable carries Nanni di Banco's Assumption. You will queue here later if you booked a slot, so note the spot.

Rules that get people turned away at the door

The dress code applies to the cathedral and the Baptistery: no bare shoulders, legs covered above the knee, no flip-flops. Staff do refuse entry, and there is no robe hire. Bring a scarf in summer.

Luggage, large backpacks and helmets are not allowed inside any monument, and the storage point is at Piazza Duomo 38/r, on the square. The cathedral's own time needed is not stated on the official portal; allow half an hour without the queue.

Why it is famous, and why it is called the Duomo

Work started in 1296 to a design by Arnolfo di Cambio, and the city built the church for more than a century with a hole where the dome should be, because nobody knew how to span 45 metres without wooden centering. Filippo Brunelleschi solved it between 1420 and 1436 with a double shell, an inner dome and a lighter outer one, bound by brick laid in a herringbone pattern so each ring held itself up as it rose. It remains the largest brick dome ever built.

It is called the Duomo because the word comes from the Latin domus, house, as in the house of God; every Italian cathedral is a duomo, which is why the address sticks to this one only in Florence.

The climb is 463 steps, no lift, and it takes you between the two shells of the dome on a staircase built for masons in the 1430s. The first stretch is a wide spiral inside the pier. Then you come out on the interior gallery under the Last Judgement, on a narrow walkway with a waist-high rail, and the fresco figures are life-size beside you. The second stretch runs between the shells: steps get steeper, the ceiling curves in, and the last flight is close to a ladder. You come out at the lantern, 90 metres above the square, with Giotto's tower below you and Fiesole on the hill.

Access is only with a timed slot on the Brunelleschi Pass, €30 (about $35), €12 (about $14) for ages 7–14, free under 7. You choose the date and time when you buy, the slot cannot be changed or cancelled, and the staff at the Porta della Mandorla check the names on the ticket against ID. Arrive early rather than late: 5 minutes of lateness is tolerated, after that the slot is gone with no refund.

Hours by day of week: Monday to Friday the last slot is 18:45, on Saturday 16:30, and on Sunday and holidays the dome opens at 12:45 with the last slot at 16:30. The dome is closed 16–20 November 2026 for maintenance. Official time needed is about 45 minutes; with the queue at the door and the gallery stop, allow an hour.

Who should not climb

Minors under 18 climb only with an adult. The Opera advises against the climb for heart or respiratory conditions, vertigo, claustrophobia and pregnancy, and the advice is fair: the passage between the shells is narrow, there is no way to turn back once the flow starts, and on a hot afternoon the air up there is still. Water is fine, a small bag is fine, anything larger goes to storage at 38/r first.

When the official calendar is sold out

Dome slots in spring and autumn go weeks ahead. The same timed entry is sold by resellers who hold an allocation: the dome climb ticket with the 3-day pass is from $61.77, rated 4.5 by 5,717 travellers, with free cancellation 24 hours before, and it includes the audio app and the other four monuments. You still pass the security check at the door, 15–30 minutes on a busy day.

If you want someone to talk you through the shells, the guided Duomo and dome climb does the museum and Baptistery first and finishes on the lantern. The three passes are compared side by side with every reduced fare.

Giotto designed the campanile in 1334 and died three years later with one storey built; Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti finished it in 1359. It is 85 metres tall and 414 steps to the top, no lift, but the staircase is wider than the dome's and it breaks at three terraces where you can stop, breathe and let people pass. From the top terrace you get the one view the dome cannot give you: the dome itself, red tiles and white ribs, close enough to count the marble panels of the lantern.

The tower is open daily 8:15–18:45 (last slot) and closed 9–13 November 2026 for maintenance. It is on the Giotto Pass and the Brunelleschi Pass, and the slot rule applies: on the Giotto Pass the tower is the monument that carries your booked time. In 2026 the Bell Tower is under major restoration; the terraces stay open, but scaffolding cuts part of the view, and the Opera says so on the ticket page. Time needed is about 45 minutes.

The octagon facing the cathedral is the oldest building on the square, consecrated in 1059, and Dante was baptised in it. It opens daily 8:30–19:30 and closes at 13:30 on the first Sunday of every month. Entry is through the North Door on the Via Martelli side, not the famous east doors.

Two warnings before you spend a pass on it. The vault mosaics, the thirteenth-century Christ in Judgement that is the reason to go in, are under restoration and not visible; the Opera states this on the ticket portal. And Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise on the east side, the ten gilded panels Michelangelo is said to have named, are copies; the originals moved into the Opera del Duomo Museum after their cleaning. Time needed is about 30 minutes, and it is on all three passes.

The museum is at Piazza del Duomo 9, behind the apse, open daily 8:30–19:00 and closed the first Tuesday of each month. This is where the square's originals live: Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, restored and behind glass; Donatello's wooden Mary Magdalene; the cantorie by Donatello and Luca della Robbia; and Michelangelo's Bandini Pietà, the one he broke with a hammer and meant for his own tomb. The first hall reconstructs Arnolfo's unfinished medieval facade at full scale. Time needed is 60–90 minutes, and it is the emptiest building of the five at 8:30.

Santa Reparata is the crypt under the cathedral, entered through the Porta Campanile on the south side: mosaic floors of the earlier church, Roman walls and Brunelleschi's tombstone. Hours are Monday to Saturday 10:15–16:00, and on Sundays and religious days 13:30–16:00. About 30 minutes. On the Ghiberti Pass the crypt is the monument that carries your booked slot.

Every monument of the Florence Duomo keeps its own hours, and the exceptions differ: the cathedral shuts to visitors on Sunday, the Baptistery on first-Sunday afternoons, the museum on the first Tuesday. This table is the official list from tickets.duomo.firenze.it as read on 28 August 2026, with the Opera's own time-needed figures.

Ticket office: Piazza San Giovanni 7, Monday to Saturday 8:00–19:15, Sunday 10:15–17:45. Buy online instead; the office sells the same passes and the same slots, and the line in front of it is the queue you came to avoid.

For the nave, no. For everything else, yes, and there are no single-monument tickets and no 'skip the line' product from the Opera: the three passes are the only official tickets. Brunelleschi €30 (about $35) covers all five monuments including the dome; Giotto €20 (about $23) drops the dome and keeps the tower; Ghiberti €15 (about $18) is Baptistery, museum and crypt for anyone who is not climbing.

Each is valid 3 calendar days from the slot date. A presale fee is not stated on the official portal. The Firenzecard does not include the Duomo complex, so do not count it toward the card.

Guided tours are the exception to 'free nave': the Opera's own guided cathedral tour is €17 (about $20), and its guided dome tour €50 (about $59). Reduced fares, the student rule and how the slot calendar works are on the page that compares the three Duomo passes.

The rules are short and the staff apply them at every door.

• Dress: no bare shoulders, knees covered, no flip-flops, in the cathedral and the Baptistery. Men in shorts above the knee are turned back as often as women.
• Bags: suitcases, large backpacks and helmets go to the storage point at Piazza Duomo 38/r before you enter any monument.
• Slots: the booked time on your pass cannot be changed or cancelled. 5 minutes of lateness is tolerated at the dome; names and ID are checked.
• Children: under 18 climb only with an adult; under 7 enter free on every pass; ages 7–14 pay the reduced fare.
• Online orders: 10 tickets per order maximum on the official portal.
• Health: no climb for heart or respiratory conditions, vertigo, claustrophobia or pregnancy, per the Opera's own FAQ.

From Santa Maria Novella station the walk is about 9 minutes: out of the station, left along Via de' Panzani, which becomes Via de' Cerretani and ends at the Baptistery. The whole square sits inside the ZTL, so a taxi drops you at the edge and a rental car is useless here. If you are coming from Piazzale Michelangelo or the Oltrarno by bus, the urban ticket is €2 (about $2.30), valid 90 minutes on buses and trams, €3 (about $3.50) if bought on board. The tram T2 from the airport uses the same ticket and stops at the station.

Five doors matter. The dome climb starts at the Porta della Mandorla on the north side of the cathedral. The bell tower entrance is at its base on the square. The Baptistery is entered by the North Door on the Via Martelli side. The museum is at Piazza del Duomo 9 behind the apse. The crypt is through the Porta Campanile on the south flank. The ticket office is at Piazza San Giovanni 7, across from the Baptistery.

Give the complex a morning: dome slot at 8:15 when the light is low over the roofs, museum at 9:30 while the tour groups are still at breakfast, nave at 10:15 when it opens, Baptistery last. That order is day one of the plan that shows where the Duomo fits in three days, with the walk minutes to the Accademia and San Lorenzo. If the slot you got is late afternoon, reverse it and finish on the lantern.

For everything else on the square and across the river, the list of every church and monument in Florence sorts by rating, price and time needed, and the Florence guide homepage holds the pass comparison and the how-many-days planner.