CATHEDRAL, Baptistery - Exterior

The Cathedral's great dome is Florence's architectural symbol worldwide: but to the Florentines and from Dante onwards, the monument that sums up the city's identity is definitely the Baptistery. The octagonal building in front of you was built on Roman foundations and is isolated and clearly visible from all sides: it is a model of geometric perfection, rationality, and pure beauty.

Although it is much older, the baptistery you see today has the same appearance as it did in the Romanesque period, between the years 1000 and 1200.

In recent years it has been completely cleaned and restored, and today it truly shines like a jewel. As you can see, it has a pyramid-shaped roof, and the protrusion you can see on the side opposite the Cathedral was added at the beginning of the 1200s to provide space for the altar inside. All the façades are divided into three horizontal bands, and the white and green marble slab coating is a purely geometric decorative masterpiece that is both tied to the memory of classical antiquity and at the same time will become the starting reference point for the future Tuscan Renaissance....