🇮🇹Florence "St. John the Baptist Baptistery"

#AprilGoodDestinations2025 The Baptistery of St. John the Baptist (Battistero di San Giovanni) in Florence is located on the west side of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. It is the oldest existing religious building in Florence and was consecrated and opened in the 11th century. Its regular octagonal structure imitates the Baptistery of St. John Lateran, with additional rooms built on the west side. The overall style is Romanesque, and it is estimated to have been built between 1059 and 1128. There are bronze gilded porches on three sides of the building (south, north and east). The main entrance on the east side was cast by Lorenzo Ghiberti as "The Door of Paradise". The gilded relief shows scenes from the "Old Testament". Michelangelo once praised it as the gateway to "paradise". This door is also regarded as a milestone in the enlightenment of Renaissance art. The other five sides of the baptistery are closed with stone walls. The medieval baptistery is preserved under the octagonal dome inside. Every day, through the light and shadow of the colored windows and the bronze doors, it tells tourists the legend of the blending of faith and art for thousands of years.