FLORENCE, ITALY – Workers began dismantling scaffolding around the Florence baptistery on Thursday after a two million euro restoration lasting 18 months.
The work was part of a series of restorations in view of the 5th National Ecclesial Convention to be held in Florence in November, which will also be attended by Pope Francis.
Work is scheduled for completion on October 25, when the 12th-century octagonal baptistery of St John near the cathedral of S. Maria del Fiore will be fully visible in all its Florentine Romanesque glory.
Restoration began in February 2014 and involved the external marble cladding, roof and lantern. It was a conservative intervention aimed at removing the layers of scale and polluting substances, in addition to consolidating and redefining the marble elements that had deteriorated over time.