Tours and Tickets to Experience Florence Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni)

There are plenty of ways to experience the Florence Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni). Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best tours available right now:

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Visiting the Florence Baptistery requires buying a combined ticket to various attractions in the Piazza del Duomo. Prices start from €15 and include access to the baptistery along with Giotto’s Bell Tower (Campanile di Giotto) and the Opera del Duomo Museum (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo), with the option to choose other packages with entry to more sites. Guided Florence Baptistery tours start at €25.

The Gates of Paradise are a pair of 15th-century gilded bronze doors sculpted by Lorenzo Ghiberti for the Florence Baptistery. A replica of the doors stands at the baptistery entrance, but the original Renaissance masterpiece is inside the Opera del Duomo Museum. The doors feature 10 intricate relief panels depicting stories from the Old Testament.

You’ll need about half an hour to explore the Florence Baptistery. Take some time to admire the detailed bronze doors on the marbled exterior, then head inside the octagonal building to see marvelous biblical mosaics made by some of Tuscany’s most celebrated artists in the 13th and 14th centuries.

The Florence Baptistery is open daily from 8:30am to 7:30pm, except for the first Sunday of the month when it closes at 2pm. It has fairly similar hours as the other attractions in Piazza del Duomo, but be sure to check the timetables and plan your visit accordingly.

Yes, the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore—which manages Florence’s Piazza del Duomo complex—offers guided tours of the baptistery in English and Italian. Florence sightseeing tours visit the baptistery as well; choose a Piazza del Duomo tour that explores the baptistery and surrounding attractions, or opt for a walking tour that passes by the bronze doors while heading to other major sights.