I promised you sunny photos, today I take you with me to visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore known as the Duomo. Piazza del Duomo where it is located, gathers several monuments: the Cathedral itself with its dome and its crypt, the Campanile di Giotto, the Baptistery, without forgetting the small museum. If the entrance to the cathedral is free, other monuments are paid but there is a ticket combining the entrance to the dome, the crypt, the campanile, the baptistery and the museum for 10€.
We start by visiting the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, which dates from the thirteenth century and measures 153m long. The building is impressive and it is part of the largest churches in the world! The facade of the cathedral is made of mosaics white-pink-green, pretty impressive that could deserves a little facelift.
The entrance to the cathedral is free. According to the hour of the day there is more or less waiting. We were lucky, we entered directly when we went there after lunch. Attention dress code! Shorts and tank tops are forbidden. Inside, the decor is rather minimalist: very few exhibits but the ground is covered with colored marble and the dome is painted majestically. 
* * *
Visit of the the cathedral is done in circle, from left to right and just before the exit, there is a small staircase leading to the crypt. The entrance is charged but as I said earlier, there is a combined ticket which costs 10€ and is valid for 24 hours from the first visit. We bought our tickets there at the entrance of the crypt because there wasn’t crowded at all.
The crypt is not very big but we discover the remains of a Romanesque church from the ninth century on which the cathedral was built.
Next time, I’m talking about the dome and the 463 steps to climb to admire the view over Florence.
