The Florentine Baptistery

The Baptistery

According to tradition the Baptistery was built on a temple dedicated to the Mars, which was later transformed in to a church. For a long time this pagan origin remained a characteristic of the monument which, to Florentines of the 14^th and 15^th centuries, still represented the noble, Roman Origins of the city.

The structure of the building dates back to about the 5^th century. However it assumed its present form only after internal and external alterations made between the 11^th and 13^th centuries, in which marble materials from the Roman period were used, as they were abundantly available in the area around the piazza. Originally the Baptistery would certainly have been much smaller even compared to the ancient church of Saint Reparata and was probably enlarged in the 11^th century by a sort of enclosure.

With the economical and political expansion of Florence, it was decided to consolidate this enlargement by building a roof, and by having it consecrated in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II. The facing must have been entirely marble until then. In the middle of the 12^th century as part of a project enlarging the building, the granite columns salvaged from another site, were put into place, and the attic storey under the dame was raised. In 1174 the lantern was built.

The choice of an octagonal form is not simply chance. We know that it corresponds to a precise religious symbology related to the new life offered in Christ. A source, Probably to be found in Saint Ambrose, relates the number eight to baptism since it is through this that man may reach salvation, - the “octava dies”, in other words the eight day after the seven, limited, earthly ones. The theme of salvation is therefore closely linked both to the sacrament of baptism and to the number eight. The Building was used as a cathedral during the 11^th century probably due to work on Saint Reperata, But the returned to its original function.