Basilica · Italy · Restored

Florence Baptistery

Battistero di San Giovanni

The Florence Baptistery (Baptistery of Saint John) is an octagonal religious building standing between Florence Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace in the Piazza San Giovanni. It is faced with alternating white Carrara and dark green Prato marble, capped by an eight‑segment dome with a lantern, and contains extensive interior mosaics and an octagonal floor with a central baptismal font.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

First raised

1059

Its prime

1452

Today

Restored

As it stood in 1452

What Florence Baptistery looked like in its prime.

An eight‑sided, three‑level monument faced in white Carrara marble and green Prato serpentinite, each side arranged with rectangular panels and blind arches; a rectilinear scarsella projects from the west. The exterior is crowned by an attic and an octagonal pyramidal roof with a small lantern. Bronze portal leaves set into deep arched surrounds and porphyry columns punctuate the faces. Interior light falls on an octagonal pavement and a tessellated mosaic dome.

Step inside

7 places to explore in 1452.

The record describes 7 distinct spots at Florence Baptistery, including 3 interiors: central baptismal font, west vault mosaic — christ the judge, interior gallery level. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Piazza del Duomo — east approach (Porta del Paradiso)North portal approachSouth portal approach (Andrea Pisano)West scarsella exteriorCentral baptismal fontWest vault mosaic — Christ the JudgeInterior gallery level

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