"Hey, I Can See My Pensione From Here!"

The Duomo In Florence, Italy

     As I gaze across this magnificent city clad in dark orange, I am left in complete awe.  Florence is a city full of extraordinary beauty and shrouded in an illustrious history.  Take for instance, this magnificent cathedral that I have laboured to climb.  Santa Maria del Fiore or as the locals affectionately call it, The Duomo, was constructed in the Middle Ages as a sign of the peoples devotion to God, and it's characteristic dome is still to this day, a symbol of pride for the city.  As a whole, the place is huge, with the third largest nave in Christendom.  The elegant three story facade of mosaics and statuary dates back to the 1870's, when locals wanted to commemorate the reunification of the country.  All of the pink, green and white marble was dug up from quarries all over Tuscany and creates a gorgeous house of worship. 

     The interior is sparse, with only gray and cream colored stones adorning the walls and wooden pews facing the alter.  As you move to the center of the church, look up.  Here you can see the artistic treasure of this church, all of the other remarkable statuary and paintings are housed in The Duomo Museum next door.  Giorgio Vasari's ginormous Last Judgement from the 1570's artistically covers up the base of the dome.  Here Vasari shows us the last days of the world as the dead rise from their tombs to be judged by God himself.   Speaking of tombs, if you descend the staircase in the nave you can view the crypt of the church.  Within the crypt are several tombs of notable Florentines, including the remains of Filippo Brunelleschi.

The Last Judgement by Giorgio Vasari

    Brunelleschi was the genius behind this remarkable dome.  In 1497, there was a competition to see who would design the dome for the church.  Architects and engineers from around the land came to Florence to present their ideas on how to finish it.  Prior to this construction, no one had ever built a dome of this magnitude before, the technology just never existed.  Brunelleschi walked in and asked the judges to stand an egg upon its end.  Each judge tried his best but failed miserably.  They said that it could not be done, so he took the egg and hit it hard on the table.  The egg stood incredibly upon it's end.  So the judges after seeing how Brunelleschi could think outside of the box was granted the commission and began to construct this engineering marvel.  Brunelleschi started with the white ribs for support and filled in the red tilled areas with a dome within a dome technique to accomplish it.  As you ascend the to the top of church, you can see this structure first hand.  Finally, he topped it off with a lantern as a symbol of Gods eternal light throughout the world.


      If you want to have a commanding view of this beautiful city, you need to climb to the top of the cathedral. This is a pretty intensive hike with over 463 steps to the top. You begin your accent on the north side of the building where there is a staircase that leads to the top. You follow this circular staircase up, and up, and up as you peer through the tiniest of windows overlooking the street below. About half way up, you will emerge onto a balcony overlooking the nave of the church. This birds eye view will give you an amazing view of the church below as well as a close up of Vasari's
master piece The Last Judgement.  From here you enter a steep, narrow staircase that follows Brunelleschi's dome within a dome construction.  This staircase continues going up and up until you finally reach the top.  After climbing hundreds and hundreds of grueling steps, you will emerge at the highest point in Florence.  The wind is strong, and cool in your face as you lookout over this clay tiled city.  The views are epic and simply breath taking as you can make out the various landmarks of this tremendous city.  From the opulent jewelry stalls of The Ponte Vecchio to the grand and always energetic Piazza della Signora.  This city is a place of remarkable beauty, and the best way to truly experience it is from the top of this legendary cathedral.

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