€60M Restoration of Giotto's Bell Tower and Duomo Museum Expansion in Florence

The Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore has announced a €60 million restoration and urban regeneration plan for Florence's Piazza del Duomo, encompassing three major projects. From March 9, 2026, Giotto's Campanile will undergo its first complete restoration in decades, with a €7 million investment over four years. A highly engineered scaffolding system will minimize visual impact and allow continued public access to the panoramic terrace. The restoration will proceed top-down, revealing restored surfaces progressively, addressing deterioration of white, green (Prato), and red (Cintoia) marble revetments. Meanwhile, the Collegio Eugeniano, a 1,600 sqm building on Via dello Studio, will be completed by February 2026 after a €13 million restoration. It will house the Opera's new headquarters from June 2026, freeing 1,500 sqm for 17 residential and commercial units. The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo is doubling its exhibition space from 6,000 to 11,000 sqm through the acquisition of adjacent Palazzo Compagni in 2023, with a €39 million investment. Designed by Guicciardini & Magni Architetti, the expansion includes temporary exhibition spaces, a conference hall, a café with garden, and improved services, with completion expected by 2030. Opera president Luca Bagnoli emphasized that these investments serve both conservation and social responsibility, removing historic buildings from speculative real estate markets and offering to acquire further historic properties for housing.