Not to miss

Baptistery

The Romanesque Baptistery may have been built as early as the 5th century on the site of a Roman temple. It is one of the oldest buildings in Florence. The present facade dates from about the 11th century. It is said that the eighth side represents the (nonexistent) eighth day of the week, which symbolises birth, death and resurrection all in one.

Most striking are the three sets of bronze doors, conceived as a series of panels in which the story of humanity and the Redemption would be told. The earliest set of doors was completed by Andrea Pisano in 1336.

Lorenzo Ghiberti tied with Brunelleschi in a competition in 1401-2 to do the north doors. Brunelleschi was so disgusted that he flounced off to Rome, leaving Ghiberti to toil away for 20 years. Good as his late-Gothic effort was, Ghiberti returned almost immediately to his workshops to turn out the east doors. Made of gilded bronze, they took 28 years to complete. So extraordinary were his exertions that, many years later, Michelangelo stood before the doors and declared them fit to be the Porta del Paradiso (Gate of Paradise), which is how they remain known to this day.

Loggia della Signoria

Built by Orcagna in the late 14th century as a platform for public ceremonies, this elegant arcade now serves as an open-air sculpture gallery, with highlights such as Cellini's magnificent bronze Perseo (Perseus). Also known as the Loggia dei Lanzi, the arcade was named after Cosimo I's Swiss mercenaries, the Lances, who were once stationed here.

Duomo

This is the holy centre of Florence and once the site of the town's Roman temple. As the city emerged to become the dominant power in medieval Tuscany, it lavished money and genius on this piazza, a place for Florence to beat its chest proudly and show the world its greatness.

You'll probably have already spotted Brunelleschi's sloping, red-tiled dome from afar, but when you first come upon the Duomo (cathedral) from the crowded streets around the Piazza, you will doubtless be taken aback by the ordered vivacity of its pink, white and green marble facade. Brunelleschi won a public competition to design the enormous dome, the first of its kind since antiquity. Although now severely cracked and under restoration, it remains a remarkable achievement of design.

The great temple's full name is Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore and it is the world's fourth-largest cathedral. It was begun in 1296 by Arnolfo di Cambio and took almost 150 years to complete. It is 153m (502ft) long and 38m (125ft) wide, except the transept, which extends to 90m (295ft). The cathedral it replaced, dedicated to Santa Reparata, fitted into an area extending less than halfway down from the entrance to the transept.