Part of rVacation.com Network

Brunelleschi's Dome

The largest masonry dome ever raised, and still the thing you climb Florence to stand on top of.

Filippo Brunelleschi • 1420 to 1436 • the climb to the lantern

Climb the Dome Get Early Access
📍

Piazza del Duomo

The dome climb entrance is on the north side of the cathedral

🎫

Timed Ticket Only

The dome climb is booked for a set time and sells out early

🪜

463 Steps

A steep climb on narrow stairs, with no elevator

⏱️

About an Hour

Allow time for the climb, the frescoes, and the view

🧭 Why Visit

The dome is the reason Florence looks like Florence. Filippo Brunelleschi raised it over the cathedral between 1420 and 1436, and it is still the largest masonry dome ever built. You can climb it, up between its two shells to the marble lantern, and stand above the whole city. It is our favorite thing in Florence.

🏛️ A Little History

When the cathedral was begun no one knew how to close the enormous hole left for the crossing. Brunelleschi won the commission with a plan to build the dome without a wooden framework to hold it up, laying the brick in a self-supporting herringbone pattern and raising two shells, one inside the other. He invented the machines to hoist the stone as he went. The lantern that crowns it was finished after his death.

💡 Did You Know?

The dome went up without the timber centering every other builder said was essential. The herringbone brickwork locked each course in place as it rose, so each ring could carry itself before the mortar even set. Six hundred years later no one has built a larger dome in brick and stone.

THE DOME

The Shape of Florence

Brunelleschi's cupola over the cathedral, red tile and white marble ribs against the sky.

Brunelleschi's dome rising over the marble flank of Florence Cathedral against a blue sky
The red domeBrunelleschi's cupola rises over the marble flank of the cathedral, unmistakable from anywhere in the city.
Brunelleschi's dome and Giotto's Campanile side by side above the cathedral
Dome and bell towerThe cupola and Giotto's Campanile stand side by side above the cathedral.
The dome rising above the green and white marble of the cathedral from the piazza
Above the marbleThe dome lifts above the green and white marble of the nave.
HOW IT WAS BUILT

Brunelleschi's Machines

He invented the hoists that raised the stone, and modeled the dome and its lantern in wood. The originals are in the cathedral museum.

A reconstruction of Brunelleschi's timber hoisting machine for the dome, in the Opera del Duomo museum
The great hoistBrunelleschi's ox-driven hoist, reconstructed. It raised the stone hundreds of feet to the rising work.
Iron tools and timber tackle used to build Brunelleschi's dome, displayed in the cathedral museum
Tools of the workThe iron tools and timber tackle used to cut, clamp, and lift the stone.
A wooden model of Brunelleschi's dome showing its double-shell construction
The wooden modelA wooden model shows the double-shell dome, one shell built inside the other.
A wooden model of the marble lantern that crowns the dome
The lantern modelA model of the marble lantern that crowns the top, finished after Brunelleschi died.
THE CLIMB

Between the Two Shells

The way up runs inside the double dome, up narrow stone stairs and through the herringbone brick.

A narrow stone spiral staircase inside the walls of Brunelleschi's dome on the climb up
The stairs upNarrow stone stairs wind up inside the walls of the dome.
A curved stone passage and worn stone steps inside Brunelleschi's dome on the climb
Between the shellsThe climb winds up a curved stone passage inside the body of the dome.
A lit stone and brick passage climbing between the two shells of Brunelleschi's dome
Up between the shellsA lit passage climbs through the gap between the inner and outer shells.
A round window set into the herringbone brickwork of Brunelleschi's dome, seen from between the shells
A window in the shellOne of the round windows set into the herringbone brick, looking out from between the shells.
The herringbone spinapesce brickwork inside the shell of Brunelleschi's dome
Herringbone brickThe spinapesce brickwork of the shell, the pattern that let the dome rise without a wooden framework.
INSIDE THE DOME

The Last Judgment

From the gallery you pass right under the frescoes Vasari and Zuccari painted across the inner shell.

The Last Judgment frescoed inside Brunelleschi's dome by Vasari and Zuccari, ringing the central oculus
The Last JudgmentThe frescoed inner shell rings the oculus overhead.
The frescoed dome above the cathedral crossing seen from the gallery on the climb
From the galleryThe dome opens above the crossing, seen from the walkway on the climb.
A close view of the Last Judgment fresco inside the dome, tiers of the blessed and the saints
Close under the frescoThe climb brings you right up under the painted figures.
The lower registers of the dome fresco with the resurrection and the damned
The lower registersBelow the blessed, the resurrection and the damned.
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP

All of Florence

From the foot of the lantern the whole city opens up, the campanile below and the hills beyond.

Giotto's Campanile and the rooftops of Florence seen from the top of the dome
The campanile belowGiotto's bell tower and the rooftops seen from the top of the dome.
Looking straight down a marble rib of the dome to the street far below
Straight downLooking down a marble rib of the dome to the street far below.
The dome's own red-tiled outer shell falling away over the rooftops of Florence
The dome's own roofThe red-tiled outer shell falls away over the city.
The rooftops of Florence from the dome, with the city stretching east
Over the rooftopsFlorence spreads east across its rooftops.
Florence spread out to the Tuscan hills from the top of the dome
To the hillsThe city runs out to the Tuscan hills.

Live Prices & Availability

Powered by GetYourGuide

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Brunelleschi's dome?
The dome over Florence Cathedral, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and built between 1420 and 1436. It is the largest brick and masonry dome ever raised.
Can you climb it?
Yes. A timed ticket takes you up 463 steps between the two shells to the lantern, passing close under the frescoes along the way.
What are the frescoes inside?
A vast Last Judgment, begun by Giorgio Vasari and finished by Federico Zuccari in the 1570s, covering the whole inner surface of the dome.
Is this the same as the bell tower?
No. The dome is Brunelleschi's cupola. Giotto's Campanile is the separate bell tower beside it, with its own climb and a view that takes in the dome itself.

Explore More of Florence

📷 Gallery

Ponte Vecchio

Florence's Medieval Bridge

📷 Gallery

Florence Cathedral and the Duomo Complex

Four monuments share one small square: the cathedral, Brunelleschi's dome, Giotto's campanile and the Baptistery, with…

📷 Gallery

Galleria dell'Accademia

Home of Michelangelo's David

📷 Gallery

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Almost everything you look at outside on the Duomo complex is a copy. The originals came…

📷 Gallery

Piazza della Signoria

Florence's open-air stage for seven centuries: Palazzo Vecchio's tower, the Loggia's sculptures, and the spot where…

📷 Gallery

Santo Spirito

Brunelleschi's last church and the liveliest piazza on the left bank: morning market, evening aperitivo.

Continue Your Italian Journey

Explore more destinations in our Italian travel network

🏛️ Rome 🚤 Venice 👗 Milan 🍕 Naples 🍝 Bologna 💕 Verona 🍷 Tuscany 🌊 Amalfi Coast 🏘️ Cinque Terre 🌋 Sicily 🇮🇹 rItalian

More journeys: 🌺 rHawaii ✈️ rVacation 📷 rPhotography 🍽️ rDining

Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We only recommend tours and stays we would book ourselves.