Begun in 1296 to the designs of Arnolfo di Cambio, Florence's cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, was crowned by Filippo Brunelleschi's great dome, built from 1420 to 1436. It remains the largest masonry dome ever constructed.
Arnolfo had planned an octagonal dome wider than anyone then knew how to build. More than a century later, Brunelleschi won the competition to finish it. Platforms carried on the dome's own ribs allowed the work to rise without scaffolding from the ground, and each course of brick acted as a ring that held itself up as it was laid.
The outside is faced with green, pink and white marble, with a Gothic Revival front added in the 19th century. With the Baptistery and Giotto's bell tower, it is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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