Florence cathedral_The start of a complex building site: the renewal of the ancient cathedral of Santa Reparata and the bell tower started by Giotto

The present-day Florentine cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Figure 4.1) is the final product of a construction phase that started in 1296 to give the city a cathedral worthy of the political and economic importance Florence had acquired at the time. It was therefore decided to enlarge the square between the church of Santa Reparata, the cathedral at that time, and the Baptistery of St John, setting back the façade, raising its level and expanding its dimensions. The design of the new building, which was only dedicated to the Virgin Mary during the works and no longer to Saint Reparata, was continuously adapted, even with extensive changes, and only reached a first conclusion one and a half centuries later with the construction of the lantern of the dome. The foundations of the Giotto bell tower were laid in 1334. The close proximity between the bell tower and the cathedral is linked to the connection they sought to create between the two buildings. An entrance door was created on the side of the bell tower facing the side of the cathedral to provide access to stairs that within the wall thickness leads to the upper levels until reaching the rooms on the first and second floors of the bell tower.