Opposite the Duomo is the Baptistery - a wonderful example of Italian Romanesque-style architecture and the oldest building in Florence, thought to date from the sixth or seventh century. But, it is the Baptistry´s great gilded bronze doors for which it is truly famous. Cast in the early fifteenth century by Lorenzo Ghiberti, the east door was described by Michelangelo as "so beautiful they are worthy to be the gates of Paradise". (Ghiberti included a self-portrait in the frame of the left-hand door – his is the fourth head from the top of the right-hand band.) Inside, the Baptistery is equally stunning with a thirteenth-century mosaic floor and ceiling and the tomb of Pope John XXIII, draped by a grand marble canopy, the work of Donatello and his pupil Michelozzo.

Open – Mon.– Sat. 1.30–6.30pm, Sun 8.30am–1.30pm; L3000

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