Big news from the Opera del Duomo about Giotto’s Campanile, one of the crown jewels of the Florence Cathedral complex, as it is getting a full makeover!
Drone view of Giotto’s Campanile, Florence. Courtesy Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, photo by Fabio Muzzi
Starting March 9, the bell tower will be wrapped up in scaffolding. But here’s the cool part: instead of keeping it completely hidden until the end (estimated to be around 4 years), the scaffolding will gradually come down section by section from the top as each phase is completed. So visitors will actually get to see the restored portions revealed bit by bit.
Don’t worry — you’ll still be able to climb the tower during the whole renovation time period.
Giotto’s Belltower, Florence, from drone. Courtesy Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, photo by Fabio Muzzi
A €7 Million Facelift funded by your visit
The restoration aims to fix cracks, fractures, and areas where the white marble and the green serpentine stone from nearby Prato on the exterior have started to deteriorate. The total cost? €7 million.
The project is being entirely funded through ticket sales by the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, the historic institution responsible for preserving and enhancing Florence’s cathedral complex and which you fund with your visit to the Duomo, museum, baptistery, bell tower and crypt.
Believe it or not, this is the first time Giotto’s Campanile is being restored in its entirety. Past work — documented as far back as 1939 — only addressed specific sections, not the whole structure.
project of the scaffolding during restoration – Courtesy Opera di Santa del Fiore/TSA Tecno System Appalti, Rome
Part of a Much Bigger Plan
As President Luca Bagnoli explained just yesterday when the project was unveiled, this restoration is just one piece of a much larger €60 million cultural investment plan currently underway.
View from above of the area where the museum will be growing – Courtesy Opera di Santa del Fiore/Guicciardini & Magni Architetti
Doubling the Museum
The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo is set to double in size — from 6,000 to 11,000 square meters — thanks to its expansion into the neighboring Palazzo Compagni, which was purchased a couple of years ago.
By 2030, the expanded museum will feature:
- New exhibition spaces
- A conference hall
- A bar-restaurant with views of Brunelleschi’s Dome
- Access overlooking the internal garden
That project alone is worth €40 million.
Reviving a 14th-Century Building (and Helping Locals Stay)
The second major project — now nearing completion — is the renovation of the former Collegio Eugeniano, originally built in the 14th century and once the first nucleus of what became the University of Florence.
By spring, about 100 Opera staff members will move into the newly restored building. Meanwhile, the 1,500 square meters of office space currently used near Piazza Duomo will be converted into around 15 rental apartments reserved for residents.
Bagnoli put it plainly: Florence welcomes tourists, but keeping locals living in the historic center matters too. Not just for community life, but for the sustainability of tourism itself. The Opera may not be a charity, he said, but it deeply cares about the city’s social fabric.
This part of the investment clocks in at around €13 million.
Ticket Sales Powering It All
In 2025 alone, ticket sales for visits to:
- the Duomo’s cupola
- the Campanile (bell tower)
- the Baptistery
- the Museum
- and Santa Reparata (the crypt)
brought in an impressive €31 million.
What makes this even more striking? The entire €60 million investment plan is self-funded. No public money. No private contributions.
As Bagnoli pointed out, the pandemic was a wake-up call. Relying solely on ticket revenue is risky. That’s why the Opera is diversifying — investing more in real estate to generate steady rental income that isn’t tied to tourist flows.
In short: restoration, expansion, housing for residents, and long-term financial strategy — all wrapped into one ambitious vision for the future of Florence’s most iconic monuments.
What’s your take on such an ambitious project?
