The Cathedral is also called Santa Maria dei Fiore, which is the cathedral of Florence that was dedicated to Santa Maria. While the construction of the Cathedral started in 1296, the dome itself was built in 1420 and it took 16 years to complete. Filippo Brunelleschi was the architect of the design. At that time, Filippo was still an amateur in the field and had no prior knowledge in architecture. However, he successfully implicated knowledge of ancient Roman construction as well as lingering Gothic traditions to produce an innovative synthesis.