GIOTTO'S TOWER

The square tower located to the right of the Cathedral is called "Giotto's Tower". In the first half of the 14th century the great painter was tasked with directing the Cathedral's construction, and he personally designed the bell tower; but upon Giotto's death, only its foundation and lower floor had been built. 

Even today, the thing that will strike you most about the bell tower is its exceptional number of reliefs and sculptures placed directly in the masonry, so that the walls "speak" and have become a sort of encyclopedia of knowledge, where religious references are combined with the evolution of techniques, arts, and astronomy. All the best Florentine sculptors worked on its decorations between the 1300s and 1400s.

Looking at the tower, you can see that while the lower floors are solid and lack windows, floor after floor the windows become larger, making the structure lighter as it grows in height. The tower is about 85 meters tall, while its sides are each about 15 meters long.

The sturdy square tower is reinforced at its corners by octagonal supports, and its entire surface is coated with white, pink, and green marble. All four sides are covered by a double row of marble tiles, above which stand sixteen large statues of the prophets, which are placed in niches. These magnificent sculptures, just like the doors of the baptistery, are copies: the originals can be seen in the Cathedral Museum.