Duomo of Florence

Meanwhile, in a town not far away from Siena, another church was being built....Santa Maria del Fiori 

is the church of Firenze built in the 14th c at the same time as that of Pisa and Siena. Built over the crumbling 5th c church dedicated to Saint Reparata, the current cathedral is one of the largest in Italy and is still known for it's great brick dome.

The church was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio  in 1294, architect of the Palazo Vecchio and the church of Santa Croce. The building took 120 years to complete with major changes to the eastern part of the church which was greatly expanded. One of the perks of taking down an old building is that you find some odd surprises.....I once found some old quarters and a newspaper from the 1940's but these guys hit pay dirt....they found the relics of St Zenobius in 1330. That was a lucky find as relics were better than gold and in 1331 the wool merchants guild assumed exclusive patronage of the building and hired Giotto to oversee the work. The tall campanile is his major design but alas in 1337, he died and so Mr Pisano of Siena was given charge until all work halted because of the Black Death of 1348.

View of the dome and campanile from the Uffizi terrace

Work began in 1349 and continued under various architects until in 1418 the Arte della Lana announced a competition. The two main contenders were Lorenzo Ghiberti, winner of for the bronze door competition of the Baptistry and Filippo Brunelleschi [ favorite of Cosimo Medici].

Turns out that Brunelleschi won but Ghiberti was named coadjutor and was given the same salary as the winner....but neither claimed or was given the prize money of 200 florins. Brunelleschi decided he was 'ill' and so Ghiberti took over but soon gave up and at that point sole responsibility came to Brunelleschi who finished the dome from 1420-1436. There's a story that when asked how he was going to build it, he took an egg and smashed the wide end on a table making a 'dome' and he said....like this'. It is the first octagonal dome in history to be built without temporary support each brick is held in place by the weight of the brick above it.

Looking at the polychome marble decoration which was begun in the 14thc and not completed until 1887 under Emilio de Fabris.

Below, looking up to heaven. The decoration of this cathedral is much more sedate than that of siena...plain white walls hardly and decoration anywhere.

 The cathedral has seen it's share of bloody history when it witnessed the murder of Guliano Medici and the near death of Lorenzo il Magnifico. 

The Baptistry below was built on the Temple of Mars. Like most Baptistries it is dedicated to st John and is octagonal, 8 being the number of rejuvenation in Christian lore.

beautiful floors

below is the amazing gold mosaic decoration

The Baptistry is known for it's doors which are now in the Opera behind the cathedral, it was in use until the 19th c.

The Duomo entrance is free, the Baptistry is currently 5 Euro, you buy your tickets next to the  fancy ice cream shop on the right. Be prepared to wait a long long time.