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Campanile di Giotto

Giotto's Campanile

Florence's freestanding bell tower, Giotto's design, colored marble, sculptural panels, and panoramic views from the Duomo complex.

Photograph · Campanile di Giotto

At a glance

Giotto's Campanile facts that matter

Names, makers, dates, and context before the story opens up.

Italian nameCampanile di Giotto
What it isTower
WhereFlorence, Tuscany
Known forFlorence's freestanding bell tower, Giotto's design, colored marble, sculptural panels, and panoramic views from the Duomo complex.
PeriodItalian Gothic, 1334
MakerGiotto; Andrea Pisano; Francesco Talenti

The story

What you're looking at

Giotto's Campanile is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and a monument of the Santa Maria del Fiore complex in Piazza del Duomo. Giotto was entrusted with the work in 1334; Andrea Pisano continued it after Giotto's death, and Francesco Talenti completed the building in 1359. The Italian Gothic tower has an approximately 15-metre-square base and a projecting crown at 84.7 metres. Original sculptures from its lower levels are displayed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The Campanile lies within, rather than independently on, the Historic Centre of Florence World Heritage property.

The bell tower is part of Florence's cathedral complex and the UNESCO-listed historic center. Its construction began under Giotto, then continued under Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti, making it a collective monument of 14th-century Florentine Gothic. The sculptural program and marble surface connect architecture, craft, theology, and civic display in one freestanding tower.

Look closer

What makes Giotto's Campanile unforgettable

The details our editors pull from official records, archives, guides, and local sources.

Origin

Giotto began the tower, but Florence finished it

The project started under Giotto in 1334 and continued through later masters. Its beauty comes from a sequence of hands, not a single uninterrupted campaign.1

Surface

The marble makes the tower read like fabric

White, green, and red marble turn the shaft into pattern, rhythm, and civic display, linking it visually to the cathedral and baptistery.1

Visit

The climb is part of the interpretation

The ascent transforms the monument from facade into body: steps, walls, bells, openings, and the city gradually revealed above the roofs.1

Context

The campanile belongs to Florence's cathedral ensemble

Its power depends on its position beside the cathedral and baptistery, within the historic center that UNESCO recognizes as a landmark of urban and artistic achievement.2

Verified details

Each statement below is linked to the record or institution that supports it.

The project started under Giotto in 1334 and continued through later masters. Its beauty comes from a sequence of hands, not a single uninterrupted campaign.1

Giotto's Campanile is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and a monument of the Santa Maria del Fiore complex in Piazza del Duomo.3,4

White, green, and red marble turn the shaft into pattern, rhythm, and civic display, linking it visually to the cathedral and baptistery.1

Giotto was entrusted with the Campanile in 1334. After his death, Andrea Pisano continued the work, and Francesco Talenti completed the building in 1359.4,5

The ascent transforms the monument from facade into body: steps, walls, bells, openings, and the city gradually revealed above the roofs.1

The Opera describes the Campanile as an Italian Gothic bell tower with an approximately 15-metre-square base and a projecting crown at 84.7 metres. Its stair rises through three superimposed loggias with paired and triple-lancet windows.4

Sources and citations (5)
  1. Opera di Santa Maria del FioreGiotto's Bell TowerRead source
  2. UNESCO World Heritage CentreHistoric Centre of FlorenceRead source
  3. Opera di Santa Maria del FioreDiscoverComplex identity and monument listRead source
  4. Opera di Santa Maria del FioreCampanile di GiottoMonument identityRead source
  5. Opera di Santa Maria del FioreGiotto's Bell Tower: A Masterpiece of Art and a Symbol of FlorenceConstruction sequence and 1359 completionRead source

Plan your visit

Before you go

Booking
Book ahead — timed entry
Maker
Giotto; Andrea Pisano; Francesco Talenti
Period
Italian Gothic · 1334

Book a visit

Tours that include Giotto's Campanile

Compared by our editors, across providers.

Booking through these links may earn Italia Magnifica a commission, at no cost to you.

  1. Viator

    Florence Duomo Complex Private Guided Tour

    A focused Duomo Complex option for understanding the cathedral, dome story and sacred architecture with a guide.

    • 2h
    • 5.0★ · 37 reviews
    from €151Book this tour

Nearby

More to see in Florence

Worth folding into the same day.

  1. The Boboli amphitheatre and obelisk behind Pitti Palace, FlorenceFlorenceBoboli GardensTerraces above Pitti Palace, the Amphitheatre, Buontalenti's grotto, long cypress avenues, fountains, sculpture, and city views.
  2. Palazzo VecchioFlorencePalazzo VecchioFlorence's civic palace, Arnolfo's tower, the Salone dei Cinquecento, Medici rooms, and Piazza della Signoria.
  3. Florence arranged below Piazzale Michelangelo at duskFlorencePiazzale MichelangeloGiuseppe Poggi's panoramic terrace and bronze copies of Michelangelo sculptures.
  4. The rusticated stone front of Pitti Palace, FlorenceFlorencePitti PalaceThe Palatine Gallery, royal apartments, Medici power, court collections, and its direct connection to the Boboli Gardens.
  5. The striped octagon of the Florence Baptistery before the DuomoFlorenceFlorence BaptisteryThe octagonal Romanesque building, glittering vault mosaics, Andrea Pisano's doors, and Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise.
  6. The fortified Bargello and its tower in evening light, FlorenceFlorenceBargello National MuseumDonatello's David and Saint George, Michelangelo's early works, Renaissance sculpture, medals, ivories, ceramics, and a severe medieval courtyard.
All Florence monumentsThe Florence guideAll monuments

Reading

Stories from Tuscany

Long reads from our writers on the ground.

  1. The magazineItalian Art History: From Renaissance to Modern
  2. The magazineTuscany Travel Guide