The Duomo – Part I

How I missed posting on this earlier I’ll never know. The first evening we arrived guess what we saw out of our kitchen window? Yes, it’s the top of the Duomo all lit up. How did we get so lucky? The trees just added a spiritual mystery that we will never forget.

“Ding, dang, dong!” (Again, from the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun”). One funny thing we never did figure out was the method of when the bells would chime. Of course there were just a few churches around us. Surprisingly the bells never became annoying, partly because they weren’t overly loud. And when we did think we might be hearing them from farther away we would stop what we were doing and listen. Then grin foolishly at each other with delight at the sound.

Here is, finally, hubby’s perspective on the bells: “Bells from all of the churches going off all of the time.They do quiet them at night, thank goodness. Beautiful and we never got tired of them, but I still can’t figure out the “Bell Code”. Some on the hour, half, and quarter, but sometimes they did not seem to relate to the time.  Also, sometimes on the hour, for instance, you would get 27 ding dongs for 5:00pm.  Is it the Celsius system?  Need to research.  We just took the bells to mean that it is time to do something or not, time to eat and drink, time to appreciate that we are here, and that an angel got its wings.”

No, we never tired of the bells! I am so glad we were able to get a sample. What’s that? You missed the audio from the bells in that previous post? Well of course you’ll have to start at the beginning and read them all again, but let’s see if I can do it for you again real quick! I really should rename the file “Bells” instead of “Voice”! Or “Voice of the Bells”?

Voice_001

The Duomo is huge! I believe it’s the largest in the world – but here’s a quick excerpt from good old Wikipedia (although they are asking for help too!):
“The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (English: Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) is the main church of Florence, Italy. The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

While we visit, there are many scaffolds outside and when we inquire, we are told that they are cleaning the exterior. You’ll see in some of our photos as in the one below:

Here is another side of the exterior. It really seems to go on and on…..

Can you tell we were craning our necks? The yellow building in the left hand corner truly is in no danger of falling over!

The above picture may be a repeat but larger. I just can’t get over the intricacy of the workmanship. And below is another….. how lovely. We were just snapping away!

Below you will find a sculpture in the side of the building. They seemed to like doing this and I for one am very grateful.

Wouldn’t you love this as your front door? But where is the door knob? Who cares? Just sit outside and gaze at it, watching it in the changing light? I could do that. (Actually we did for a little while!)

The next is one of my favorites. It’s Sunday of course, and what a perfect shot – not even scripted!

I’m not 100% certain, but I suspect they are trying to figure out what happened to the door knobs!

And last but not least, homage to the Duomo in all it’s evening glory…

Now here’s something you wouldn’t expect and we almost missed. There is a space where you can go down a few steps, and for about 5 or 6 Euros gain admittance to something quite unique. “The Crypts”! Again, from my friend “Wikipedia”:

“The cathedral underwent difficult excavations between 1965 and 1974. The subterranean vaults were used for the burial of Florentine bishops throughout the centuries.

The archaeological history of this huge area was reconstructed through the work of Dr Franklin Toker: remains of Roman houses, an early Christian pavement, ruins of the former cathedral of Santa Reparata and successive enlargements of this church. Close to the entrance, in the part of the crypt open to the public, is the tomb of Brunelleschi. While its location is prominent, the actual tomb is simple and humble. That the architect was permitted such a prestigious burial place is proof of the high esteem he was given by the Florentines.”

Now I’m going to have to tease you with Part II tomorrow as there are more pictures of the interior and I would like to share the Crypt with you-that was a shocker (in a good way as the bodies aren’t in there any more!) and there are some ceiling shots you won’t want to miss. So I hope you’ll stay with me\us as we have lots more and I hope you’re enjoying our trip almost as much as we are!

Ciao, DJ*

Tags: architecture, Arnolfo di Cambio, art, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, ceilings of art, Crypts, duomo, Emilio De Fabris, Filippo Brunelleschi, Florence, Italy, masters craftsmen, sculpture, textures, Tuscany, Under the Tuscan Sun, workmanship