History of Florence Cathedral | Santa Maria del Fiore

Useful information about Florence Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore 

The Cathedral is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 04:30pm, since this is still an active consecrated Cathedral, visiting hours on Sundays are very limited (opening hours may change due to religious, cultural or civil ceremonies). Entrance is free only for the Cathedral. There is always a line to enter (it can be hours long during the tourist high season May-September) and the only way to skip the line is to take a Duomo Cathedral Florence tour.

A touch of history about Florence Duomo

The people of Florence, in 1296, had a vision that they wanted to be able to honour their city's rich history by building an impressive cathedral on the site where Santa Maria Reparata Church once stood. To do this, they allocated money from tax revenue as well, so there would always be enough funds available for construction purposes!

The architect who designed the Cathedral, Arnolfo di Cambio, died before it could be completed. The project ground to a halt, and political backing for this important building wavered as well.

In 1334, a renowned artist and architect named Giotto was put in charge of construction. He mainly focused on what is now known as Campanile d Giotto.

 The man died only three years after being appointed to this position, which led Andrea Pisano--his assistant at some point during their career together before they became separate entities!-- takeover control for another nine months until he too fell ill from Black Plague epidemic sweeping through Italy.

The Cathedral of Florence was in need of a replacement when Francesco Talenti took charge. He had already finished construction on the tower and dedicated most of his time there, but he did modify Di Cambio's original design to make it longer – which meant less space for chapels along one side…but what came up wasn't exactly planned! As soon as work started again after 1356, builders found themselves with an issue: they couldn’t build because their machinery wouldn't fit through those narrow doorways into newly created rooms inside such large cathedrals like ours.

The construction of the Florence Cathedral was not an easy task. There were many disputes, back-and-forths between workers and those overseeing their work on this project; even though they ultimately had to finish it without Dome because Brunelleschi couldn't complete his design for 56 years after being brought in at some point during the 1370's time period!

Thanks to the Medicis, our church has had a number of façades over time. 

In 1587 an order was given for this particular style from Francesco de' Medici– but it never materialized because he died before construction could start on his project! 

The original simplicity made way for more elaborate designs including ones by Bernardo Buontalenti (in the 18th century) or even Emilio De Fabris who finished them off around 1900.