What is the name of the Gothic cathedral in Florence, Italy?

The Gothic cathedral in Florence, Italy, is Santa Maria del Fiore, meaning “Saint Mary of the Flower.”

Construction began in 1296 under the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, replacing the older cathedral of Santa Reparata. The project expanded over generations, with Giotto contributing the campanile and later architects reshaping the eastern end into the vast octagonal crossing that required an unprecedented dome.

The cathedral is especially famous for Filippo Brunelleschi's dome, completed in 1436. Although the building began as a Gothic project, its dome became one of the defining achievements of the Renaissance. The exterior combines white, green, and red marble, while the present western façade is a 19th-century Gothic Revival reconstruction.

A frequent mix-up is treating the cathedral, its bell tower, and the baptistery as the same building. Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral itself; Giotto's Campanile and the Florence Baptistery are separate monuments in the Piazza del Duomo complex. The cathedral is also commonly called the Duomo of Florence.