Florence (Firenze) is the penultimate waypoint on our road trip from Lausanne to Tuscany. You can read about our stops in Turin (Torino), Genoa (Genova) and Cinque Terre – here, here and here. If you like to join us on this epic road trip from the beginning in Switzerland, click here for the first post of the series.
The cathedral of Florence (il duomo) is one of the most recognizable landmark worldwide. Situated in the heart of Florence, the cathedral forms a complex with the Baptistery and the Campanile at the Piazza del Duomo. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing the historic center of Florence.
After checking in at our hotel – Hotel Spadai (see earlier post), we immediately ventured out to explore the surrounding area. Heading towards the first street corner, we entered the bustling Piazza del Duomo and were greeted by this breathtaking sight.
Imagine our surprise and delight at seeing il Duomo and its ornate façade up close, and experiencing the sheer scale of the building dominating the relatively banal historic buildings surrounding it. Although we knew our hotel is very close to the cathedral, we were completely taken aback by the sudden dramatic spectacle.
Officially, il Duomo is formally known as the Cattedrale Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower). According to Wikipedia, the word ”duomo” derives from the Latin word domus, meaning “house”, as a cathedral is the “house of God”, or domus Dei. An alternative etymology is that the word derived from “house”, but “house of the bishop”.
A lot of names and dates are mentioned below and it might get a bit boring. Just look at the photos if you like.
The construction of Il Duomo spanned a period of 140 years, beginning in 1296 and concluding in 1436. Under the initial guidance of Arnolfo di Cambio, it was designed in the Gothic style as a replacement for the medieval church of Santa Reparata. Francesco Talenti later expanded the cathedral in 1351 adding an apse and extending the naves.
In 1418, an architectural competition was organized to determine who would oversee the construction of the dome. Filippo Brunelleschi emerged as the victor, who initiated the construction in 1420, and completed it in 1436. Remarkably, this colossal dome was erected without any additional supports, a testament to Brunelleschi’s engineering ingenuity.
Apparently, Leonardo da Vinci has often been mentioned alongside this dome since his mentor Andrea del Verrocchio was called to put a bronze ball and cross at the top of the dome, making this project an inspiration to the young Leonardo’s interest in engineering design and machines.
The exterior that we see is not the original. In 1864, a competition was held to design a new façade, it was won by Emilio De Fabris in 1871. Work on the neo-Gothic façade in white, green and red marble began in 1876 and was completed in 1887.
The later-added colorful marble façades complemented the reddish brick dome. The photo below shows the stone work installed on top of the main entrance.
The Campanile (bell tower) of the cathedral was originally designed in 1334 by Giotto di Bondone and completed in 1359.
Like the cathedral, it is clad with green, pink and white Tuscan marble.
The Baptistery, also known as Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of Saint John) is one of the oldest buildings in the city, constructed between 1059 and 1128 in the Florentine Romanseque style which formed the basis for the development of Renaissance architecture. Up to 1935, the Baptistery was the only place where Florentines were baptized.
Whenever we walked past il Duomo, there was always a long line waiting to enter, and another long line waiting for the climb up 463 stairs to the dome. There is no elevator to the top, unlike the duomo in Milan (see our post on Milan’s cathedral).
On our last day, we opted to join the line for the cathedral as early as we could manage in the morning. But it was not early enough as the line had already snaked around the transept, and it took us several long hours of waiting before it was our turn to enter the building.
It was ironic; although we passed the cathedral every day, because we had to check out of the hotel, we were unable to spend as much time as we would have preferred inside the building.
While waiting in line, we had plenty of time to admire the intricate decorations.
The details of the creations and the craftsmanship required are unparalleled.
The interior of this Gothic-style church was relatively sparse, especially during the COVID pandemic when social distancing was encouraged. The benches were replaced by scattered plastic chairs.
The ceiling of the dome is decorated with frescos depicting The Last Judgement. The work covering 3,600 metres² was started in 1572 by Giorgio Vasari and finished by Federico Zuccari and others in 1579.
According to Wikipedia, “… Above the main door is a colossal clock face with fresco portraits of four Prophets by Paolo Uccello (1443). This one-handed liturgical clock shows the 24 hours of the hora italica (Italian time), a period of time ending with sunset at 24 hours. This timetable was used until the 18th century. This is one of the few clocks from that time that still exist and are in working order.”
We noticed many flat undecorated surfaces inside the huge cathedral (except the ceiling of the dome) which suggest a relatively modern construction and not of the Renaissance. The interior was a bit underwhelming after we had the opportunity to observe the intricate patterns on the exterior for a few hours.
If you like to follow us on this epic Italian road trip, click here for the next post. A lot more to come on what we saw in Florence. Subscribe to get a notice when we post fresh content.