After the late night with our friends yesterday, we decided to sleep in a bit rather than getting to the Duomo when it opened at 8:15 am (okay, so by late night we’re really talking 10:30 pm). We woke up a bit before 9:30 and got ready for the day. Our primary goal today was to see the Duomo and its associated attractions, most significantly, the cupola (dome) of the cathedral built by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The beautiful exterior of the Duomo is not just limited to the facade.
We started with a stop at a pastry shop to get a chocolate filled pastry, and then went to a supermarket where we bought some rolls and asiago cheese, which we enjoyed while sitting on the front steps of the cathedral. As we ate, we of course people-watched, and had a pleasant few minutes there. When we finished, we walked to the entrance of the cupola, but after seeing a long line, we decided instead to visit the museum first. The cathedral museum was pretty cool and we each got an audio guide to give us information along the way. The highlights were a lot of sculptures by Donatello, the original gilded bronze door panels of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise (the ones outside the Baptistery are copies, apparently), and a section about Brunelleschi and the construction of the dome. We were able to see the model that Brunelleschi built as the building plan for the dome and lantern, as well as replicas and originals of some of the tools and machines that he used during construction.
Brunelleschi's entry into the competition for the bronze Baptistery doors.
As engineers, we found this scale model of the Duomo really cool.
After leaving the museum, we were too excited to wait any longer to see the cupola, so we got into line at the entrance. It only took about 15 minutes or so until we were climbing our way up spiral staircases to the base of the dome. We walked out onto the lower balcony and were shocked at the amount of height we had already gained. The interior of the dome is very beautifully painted with scenes of heaven and hell, and we spent a while just looking at and taking pictures of all of the different figures. After we walked around half the circumference of the dome on this balcony, we climbed more stairs to the height of the second balcony where the dome actually began to curve and close. From here we began the climb into the dome and to the base of the lantern. It was amazing to be able to see the techniques that Brunelleschi used and that we have both read about in detail. We took pictures of the herringbone pattern of the brick, as well as the large beams of wood that are tied together in a ring around the entire circumference.
Brunelleschi used this herring-bone brick technique as one of many novel strategies for constructing the dome.
When we finally got to the top (after passing many people in the other direction in the very narrow walkway), and spent about 30 minutes on top taking pictures and just enjoying the view. The top of this dome was significantly less crowded than the top of St. Peter’s in Rome, and it was very pleasant to sit up there high above the city with the nice breeze and the incredible panorama. On our way down, we stopped for a while on the higher balcony and took some more pictures of the paintings on the interior of the dome. We then climbed down the remainder of the 436 stairs and entered into a small roped off area of the cathedral.
The extravagant paintings on the inside of the cupola in the Florence Duomo.
The Chiesa di Santa Croce (Church of the Holy Cross) as seen from the top of the Duomo.
The interior of the cathedral, with the exception of the frescoes in the dome, is very stark and seems misplaced compared to the very intricate façade. We spent a few minutes looking around to what we could see, and then exited out onto the plaza. We decided not to climb the campanile (bell tower) since it didn’t go as high as the dome and didn’t really offer much more in the way of views of the city. By this point, Philip was getting hungry, so we went back to our Panini restaurant from two nights ago to get some sandwiches. We also tried what Italians call a milkshake (really more of a slushy, but nevertheless excellent), which was a very refreshing shot of strawberry after walking in the heat.
After our 2 pm lunch, we decided to explore some churches in the area, and began with Santa Maria Novella. However, when we got there, we learned that it had a 2.50 euro entrance fee and we didn’t care enough to pay it (there are so many stunningly beautiful churches in the city that are free to enter that it feels foolish to pay to enter one that won’t be any more beautiful). We both realized that we were a bit tired, so we chose to return to our nearby hostel to rest for a few minutes, use the bathroom, and talk for a bit with our hostess. We both feel like we’ve already seen, or plan to see tomorrow, what we most care about in Florence, and through talking to our hostess, elected to take a day trip elsewhere on Monday. We’ll tell more when we return from it, but we guarantee it is a place that you have heard of.
After a brief rest, we headed back out to see a few more churches in our area of the city. Both of them were very beautifully and their interiors were far more ornate than that of the Duomo. The Basilica della S.S. Annunziata had an ornate gilded ceiling, a large altarpiece at the back of the church that would suffice as the main centerpiece for most other churches, and a rather large, well painted cupola of its own. As we were sitting there looking around, organ music filled the church and we became aware of the wonderful acoustics. After enjoying for a few minutes, we walked to the nearby Chiesa di San Marco. This church was mostly closed for renovations, but we were able to see a small portion of the interior that was on par with Annunziata.
Enjoying another day of traveling around Italy...what a life!
After viewing these churches and stopping at a supermarket to get breakfast for tomorrow, we again returned to the hostel where Rose took her afternoon nap and we both rested, journaled, and went through our pictures from the day. We went out in the evening to an internet cafe to take care of email, blog posting, and other such business. Philip enjoyed a kebab wrap sandwich for dinner and we went to bed early to catch up on rest before our big day at Uffizi tomorrow.
Daily # of gelati: 1
Flavors:
Mora (blackberry)
Kiwi (kiwi)
The Global Traveler 