How to Build the Impossible
A reject block of marble became the David; a dome that shouldn't stand still holds; a 1401 contest built a genius by making him lose. A physics heist across the Renaissance, on foot, in about a mile.
What You'll Experience
Plan your walk
Know the route before you buy
- Starts at
- Introduction
- Ends at
- The Reveal
- Walking plan
- 1h · ~0.8 miles
- Schedule
- Start, pause, and resume anytime
Included in the app
- Professional narration
- GPS-triggered stops
- Downloadable tour audio
- Ask the Historian Q&A
- Optional end-of-tour reveal
- All 11 story stops
A taste of what you'll hear
11 stops, each with its own story. Here's a preview.
"You're in Florence, standing in the middle of the greatest workshop the world ever ran. For about two hundred years this small stone city turned out problem-solvers the way other places turn out weath..."
"Stand back and look up, past the striped marble, to the enormous brick-red dome sitting on top of the cathedral. That is the largest masonry dome ever built, and it has held that title for six hundred years."
"You made it. From two little bronze panels in a glass case, all the way to a seventeen-foot marble giant under a skylight. A whole city's worth of people solving the impossible, on foot, in about a mile. Nicely done. Let me settle up."
Tour itinerary
Every stop on this walk
Explore the route before you go. Each stop has its own story preview, location details, and place in the larger tour.
- 11IntroductionYou're in Florence, standing in the middle of the greatest workshop the world ever ran. For about two hundred years this small stone city...43.7702, 11.2580 Read this stop
- 22The Bargello — The 1401 PanelsYou're at the Bargello — a blunt, battlemented stone box that spent centuries as a prison and an execution yard before it became the finest...43.7702, 11.2580 Read this stop
- 33OrsanmicheleThat tall, square, blank-walled building ahead of you looks like a fortress that got lost on its way to becoming a church.43.7709, 11.2549 Read this stop
- 44Giotto's CampanileThe tall tower rising beside the cathedral, banded in the same white, green, and pink marble, is Giotto's Campanile — the bell tower, nearly...43.7726, 11.2557 Read this stop
- 55The Baptistery — The Gates of ParadiseIn front of the cathedral stands a smaller, eight-sided building wrapped in the same marble, with a set of doors on this side that look like...43.7730, 11.2551 Read this stop
- 66The Dome — Santa Maria del FioreStand back and look up, past the striped marble, to the enormous brick-red dome sitting on top of the cathedral.43.7731, 11.2560 Read this stop
- 77The Uccello ClockStep inside the cathedral, walk a little way in, then turn all the way around and look up above the doors you just came through.43.7728, 11.2562 Read this stop
- 88Museo dell'Opera del DuomoBehind the cathedral, on the east side, is a museum most visitors march straight past on their way to the dome climb. Don't.43.7737, 11.2566 Read this stop
- 99Ospedale degli InnocentiLook at the long, calm arcade running along this side of the square — a row of rounded arches on slender columns, so simple and so exactly...43.7766, 11.2610 Read this stop
- 1010Galleria dell'Accademia — The DavidYou've reached the Accademia. Before you get to the famous one at the far end of the hall, look at the figures lining the way to him — huge,...43.7770, 11.2594 Read this stop
- 1111The RevealYou made it. From two little bronze panels in a glass case, all the way to a seventeen-foot marble giant under a skylight.43.7770, 11.2594 Read this stop
Stories first
Every stop is built around people, conflict, ambition, and consequences—not a plaque read aloud.
Most of it is true. The extra mischief is just a wink at the end, but the story is what carries the walk.
Have questions? Just ask.
Curious about something you heard? Want to know more about a place? Ask us anything — we have a lot to say. It's more fun when it's a conversation.
Ready?
Download the app, head to the starting point, and press play. The stories start themselves.
Get the AppBefore you go
Quick answers
How much is this tour?
$9.99 as a one-time purchase in the iOS app. The Florence city pack is $14.99 and includes every currently available tour in the city.
Can I use it with spotty cell service?
Download the tour audio on Wi-Fi before leaving. Cached narration plays without streaming; map tiles and other online features may still need a connection.
Do I have to start at a specific time?
No. Start when it suits you, pause for a detour or meal, and resume later. Check the opening hours of any venue you personally plan to enter.
Are admission tickets included?
The purchase covers the Bad Historian audio experience. Transportation, food, and admission to third-party attractions are not included.
Other Florence Tours
Piazza della Signoria
Blood on the Marble
A pope's murder plot at Mass, a preacher burned where he'd burned the city's art, a poet sentenced to the flames. Florence's beauty had a body count — and every crime is in the records.
Historic Center
Florence Dressed the World
The city that invented fashion twice — the medieval wool and silk guilds that funded the Renaissance, then Ferragamo, Gucci, Pucci, and the 1951 show that made 'Made in Italy.' Two inventions, six centuries apart, on the same small grid of streets.
Duomo
Florence in a Mile
The Duomo, the David, the bridge — a straight walk through the heart of Florence, with the one insane true story behind every icon. Where the Renaissance started, and why any of it is still here.
San Lorenzo
The Family That Owned Florence
The Medici started as bankers and ended up owning a republic, a papacy, and immortality — four popes, two queens of France, a secret half-mile skybridge over the whole city. And the last of them gave every masterpiece to Florence forever, on one condition: none of it could ever leave.
How to Build the Impossible
$9.99 · one-time