The Baptistery of St. John is located adjacent to the Cathedral of Florence (Santa Maria del Fiore), also known as the Duomo. When the building was built has been a subject of much debate. The latest consensus is that it was built around 1060. Many wonder why the baptistery is separate from the cathedral. There is one practical reason and one religious one.
The practical reason is that the Baptistery is several centuries older than the cathedral. The religious reason is that an unbaptized person could not enter the cathedral. They had to be baptized before they entered, hence a separate building. The building is also a church that holds daily services.
The Baptistery has three sets of doors; the first, created in 1336 by the sculptor Andrea Pisano, was on the south door, where a reproduction is located today. There was a contest to see who would create the next set of doors. It famously pitted Lorenzo Ghiberti (the winner) against Filippo Brunelleschi, who later built the Cathedral’s dome. The doors were worked on between 1403 and 1424. A reproduction of the doors now occupies the North set and the entrance for tours.
The operators of the Cathedral were so impressed that, when they were awarded the contract for the last set of doors, they didn’t bother with a competition; they gave it to Ghilberti. He built the famous Gates of Paradise doors from 1429 to 1447. As with the others, a reproduction is now on the east doors facing the Cathedral.
