10K views · 531 reactions | A restoration for the centuries. Savor this video about the ongoing restoration of Florence Baptistery, due for completion by the end of 2021. +Read more: www.theflorentine.net/2021/01/22/florence-baptistery-restoration-pictures/ Footage courtesy of Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore | The Florentine | Facebook

Gate of Paradise, Florence, Italy.

If you’re in Florence, start at the Baptistery doors. Before Michelangelo, before the Medici, this is where the Renaissance began. In 1401, there was a feud that sparked the Renaissance. Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi competed to design them. Ghiberti won, and Brunelleschi left for Rome, where what he learned led to the Duomo’s iconic dome. Study the details, and then the rest of Florence makes sense. You can read our guidebook if you want the full story, but it's better to see them i

The 14th-century South Doors by Andrea Pisano have been restored and are on display in the Opera del Duomo Museum. All three of the Baptistery’s bronze doors can now be seen side by side for the first time in the museum’s Hall of Paradise. Grande Museo del Duomo | The Florentine