The Duomo’s Monuments & Museums Reopen with Free Admission
Overseen by the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Florence Duomo complex will reopen after the Coronavirus lockdown on Friday, May 22. Florence Cathedral, the Duomo Museum, the Bell Tower (Campanile) and the Baptistery will be accessible on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only in addition to la Festa di San Giovanni (a local holiday on June 24) with an online reservation which includes free admission through May 31. Entrance to the Cupola (booking through the website required) will start on June 18 on those same days of the week. The plan is to return to a full-time schedule during the summer.
The unified, 72-hour ticket to all the landmarks will be substituted by tickets to each monument with a €10 admission fee for the Duomo (Cathedral) museum; €15 for the Bell Tower and the Cupola; in addition to €5 for the Baptistery. The upper floor and panoramic terrace of the Duomo museum will remain closed until further notice. There is still free entrance to Florence’s Cathedral (Duomo); however, a reservation through the website is now required to comply with safety protocols, which include the wearing of a mask.
Visitors to Cathedral complex (except for the Duomo museum) will be given a new safety device upon entrance, to be returned when exiting. Designed to be worn like a pendant on a necklace, this small device, 7 cm (2.7 inches) by 5 cm (2 inches), which resembles a miniature tail light, flashes and beeps when a guest oversteps the correct social distance mandated at museums: 1.8 meters (6 ft.). The Florence firm AME (Advanced Microwave Engineering) created the mechanism, the first of its kind ever to be ordered for use in an Italian museum.
The concerts of the free music series O Flos Colende as well as Note al Museo have been canceled for 2020, and this year’s program of celebrations–including theatre, light shows and conferences–for the 600th anniversary of the Cupola’s construction has been postponed indefinitely. (rosanna cirigliano)
