The construction of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, was begun by Arnolfo di Cambio on September, 8th 1296. It is the fourth church of the world (after S. Peter in Rome, St. Paul in London and the cathedral in Milan). The initial design of Arnolfo was different from the real structure of the church, but the external walls are for sure those of the first project. When Arnolfo, dead around 1310, the works slowed down. They start again when the conglomerate of Wool assumed the care of construction in 1331. Giotto was named Master builder of the Works In 1334. He mainly designed the bell-tower but he died three years later. In 1367 it was accepted the definitive design of the church and in 1380 the nave were completed, Brunelleschi won the competition held in 1418 for the design of the dome (octagonal, 46 feet in diameter at the base, 114.5 meters high), the stands were built in 1421.
The interior of the Cathedral is a spectacle which certainly has to be seen, you can find sculptures frescoes and marble floors, there is a surface of more than 4.000 square yards of paintings executed up to a height of 90 meters. Many artists worked in the Cathedral in several centuries. Between them Andrea del Castagno, Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari. Brunelleschi, Arnolfo di Cambio, Ghiberti , Giotto, Andrea Pisano.
The exterior covering is made with white marble from Carrara, red marble from Siena and green marble from Prato. The lantern on the top of the Dome was built in 1461.