Giotto's Bell Tower

Giotto di Bondone was seventy years old and at the peak of his fame when he was appointed chief architect of the cathedral complex in 1334. His first task was this bell tower, and he attacked it with the ambition of a man who knew he was running out of time. He designed a tower sheathed in pink, white, and green marble with hexagonal relief panels at the base depicting the story of human civilization — from the Creation of Adam to navigation, agriculture, weaving, and astronomy. Then he died in 1337, with only the bottom section finished.

Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti completed the tower over the next two decades, reaching 84.7 meters. They wisely kept Giotto's decorative scheme but added more structural strength — Giotto's original design was reportedly too thin to support its own weight at full height. The 414 steps to the top are claustrophobic, steep, and absolutely worth it: the view from the summit puts you eye-level with Brunelleschi's dome, close enough to study the herringbone brickwork that holds the whole thing together.

The relief panels on the lower levels are extraordinary in their own right. The originals — sculpted by Andrea Pisano and workshop — are now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, replaced by copies on the tower. They form an encyclopedia of medieval knowledge: the seven planets, the seven virtues, the seven sacraments, the liberal arts. It's a 14th-century syllabus carved in marble.

Unlike the dome climb, which involves a walk between the inner and outer shells, the campanile climb is a straight vertical ascent through narrow stone staircases. You'll earn every step of that panorama.