Revisiting the Duomo

When you live in Florence, you don’t visit the Duomo very often. Maybe if you have a visitor, you go inside. But when’s the last time you actually bought a ticket to walk up the Cupola, or entered the crypt to check out the archaeological excavations? We recently took advantage of a tour by Ciao Florence! called the Secret Terraces of the Duomo that not only provides you with a new point of view (where other tourists can’t go!) but also goes over the basics of the history of this great building.

The Secret Terrace is a walkway at the level of the base of the drum, slightly less than halfway up to the top of the Duomo. It’s certainly the highlight of this exclusive tour, since it can only be booked by select tour operators – in fact, we’d never been there. Different from the view at the very top of the Duomo, you’re close enough to the Baptistery to admire its recent cleaning and to see details in the piazza below. You’re also alone, not fighting anyone for the best pictures.

But the tour isn’t just about a great view. Our guide, a licensed staff member of the Opera del Duomo, provided a complete overview of the history of the Duomo, and pointed out interesting building features on the way that one would be quite likely to miss, such as two types of brick used by the original masons in a herringbone pattern, the narrower one on the vertical. We also visited the archaeological area in the crypt, learning at lot about the relationship of the original floor plan of the church of Santa Reparata to that of the current structure. We even looked at early Christian mosaics from the original floor – did you know that there is a list of donors’ names on it, with a number of how much of the floor they paid for? Early crowdfunding!

There are also other VIP moments, like when we walk into the church and immediately slip over to the right, in front of the central doors, able to admire the church’s perspective from the “right” angle (to envious glances from all the tourists channeled by barriers up the left side aisle). Here, the 16th-century pavement patterns take on new meaning and you can really breathe in the majesty of the Duomo. Moving up the nave to the cupola, we’re permitted into the apse, up close to the high altar and peeking into the sacristy, alone and away from the crowds.

Our guide leaves us at terrace level to walk up the rest of the way by ourselves, though the steep inner passageway between the two cupolas that Brunelleschi designed with such great genius. The view from the top is, as usual, stunning.

Secret Terraces with The Florentine and Ciao Florence!

See it for yourself: The Florentine readers can experience this tour for a very special price with The Florentine ONLY on Saturday, March 19, 2016. The normal tour costs €55 but we have just 20 spots morning and 20 in the afternoon at the discounted cost of €35. The tour includes the 24-hour ticket to access all the Opera del Duomo buildings, including the new museum, the baptistery and the belltower (worth €15).

Grab your spot: March 19 morning tour / March 19 afternoon tour

Photos by Alexandra Korey / © 2016 The Florentine