Opera
Museum - Table of Contents
The Opera del Duomo, also known as the "OPA", is the the Cathedral Workshop or "works commission" [opera] and was founded by the Republic of Florence in 1296 to oversee the construction of the new Cathedral and its bell tower.
In 1436, the Cathedral was finally finished with the completion of Brunelleschi's dome and its consecration.
Since then, the main task for the Opera del Duomo has been to conserve these monuments - including the Baptistery of San Giovanni. In 1891, the Museum was founded to house the works of art which, through the course of the centuries, had been removed from the Duomo and the Baptistery.
The museum serves as a refuge from pollution for many of the outside sculptures of the cathedral.
6,000 sq. mt of showroom space, over a 1000 years standing in Florence, more than 750 works of art, a little more than 720 years of service by the commission, set in 25 rooms with floor plan on 3 levels.
- Visit Florence (online April 2020)
Located opposite the east elevation of the Cathedral/Duomo on Piazza del Duomo
Crucial step in the museum’s latest expansion and renovation was in 1997 with the Opera del Duomo’s acquisition of the eighteenth-century Teatro degli Intrepidi, an adjacent building of 3,000 square meters.
