Opera magazine
2023-04-21
Giotto's bell tower, entry by reservation from next May 3rd
Piazza Duomo, a new free luggage storage for visitors to the Dome who will need to store bulky items
From 3 May 2023 to visit Giotto's bell tower in Florence (owners of the "Giotto pass" ticket) it will be necessary to book an entry time. The Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore has decided to adopt this system, already used with excellent results for Brunelleschi's Dome, to try to facilitate visits and gradually eliminate the long waiting lines that form to access the monument. In addition, the goal is to reduce the pressure on the monument, promoting better conservation of the same. The first bookable entrance to visit the Bell Tower will be at 8.15 and the last at 18.45, a total of 15 daily entrances for a maximum of 120 people per slot.
Another important novelty is the opening, from May 1st, of a left-luggage office in Piazza Duomo 38/r (next to the entrance to the Museum), where visitors to the Dome will have to leave bulky objects free of charge such as rucksacks, parcels, containers, large size, etc. In fact, 60% of visitors who access the Dome show up with bulky luggage, especially backpacks, which slow down the checks and do not allow an easy visit to the monument's visitors, having to make an uphill journey of 463 steep steps and go down the same number .
"It is a free service that the Opera offers to holders of the Brunelleschi pass ticket and it is the intention of our institution to gradually extend it to all visitors to our monuments", explains the general manager, Lorenzo Luchetti.
The luggage storage regulations, complete with all the instructions to follow, can be consulted in the place itself, as well as on the Opera website (also downloadable in PDF format) and at the ticket offices with a QR Code.
To support these changes, staff will be available at the entrances to the Bell Tower, the Crypt of Santa Reparata, the Baptistery, the Museum and the Cathedral square, who will have the task of facilitating entry by providing information in several languages.
The monuments of the Duomo of Florence, apart from the entrance to the Cathedral which is free, can be visited by purchasing three types of tickets: the "Brunelleschi pass" which includes a visit to the Dome, the Bell Tower, the Crypt of Santa Reparata, the Baptistery and the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo; The "Giotto Pass" with which you can visit the monuments and the museum with the exception of the Dome; the “Ghiberti pass” to visit the Baptistery, the Crypt of Santa Reparata and the Museum. All three tickets are valid for 3 days starting from the day of activation.