Top-25 Best Places in Italy

16. Duomo – Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence

Known for its distinctive dome and vivid colors, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, dominates the skyline of Florence and reflects the collective efforts of several prominent artists, who provided the status of a monument to architectural masterpiece, full of aesthetic lines.

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 2000 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.

The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy’s largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.

The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.