Two Schools of Thought: Multiple Days - Piazza Duomo Santa Maria Del Fiore

The Duomo Santa Maria Del Fiore is by far the most obvious and most spectacular cites of all Florence. No matter what street you walk down, you are almost bound to run into it (seeing how it engulfs the ends of streets and is the largest piazza in Florence). It deserves a blog all to itself. And so, I write.

Many of the pictures of The Duomo speak for themselves, but I've found that it's hard to really grasp the full effect of the monument and surrounding parts. Therefore, I have broken it all down.

The Duomo, the largest of the three parts, is accompanied by Giotto's Bell Tower and The Baptistery of Saint John.

Octagon Shape - Baptistery of St. John. Square Shape - Giotto's Bell Tower. Other Shape - Duomo.

Baptistery left, Duomo middle, Tower right

Fast Facts:

Duomo Santa Maria Del Fiore
Height - 300 ft.
Length - 500 ft.
Width - 300 ft.
Construction - Began 1296 and ended 1887
Master Architect - Filippo Brunelleschi (responsible for the construction of the cupola, or dome.)
Step to Top - 463
F.Y.I. - The Duomo is amazing, from the floor to the tip top of the dome. It is by far one of the most impressive sights I have seen in all of Italy. With mosaic floors and walls covered in monuments to the greats and beautiful tapestries, good thing it's free to get in. Some of these most interesting items and people lie in The Duomo.

I have already shown you multiple pictures of The Duomo so I went another route. See below:

This video was taken at the top of the Duomo.

Inside the Duomo.

Alter of The Duomo. Above the alter is the cupola, or dome.

Cupola of Duomo.

Door to enter Duomo. Opposite alter.

Clock above main door to Duomo. Notice anything, mmmm, strange about this clock?

Giotto's Bell Tower
Height - 276 ft.
Steps - 414
Master Architect - Giotto, who was not an architect. He was actually a painter who only completed the first two levels of the tower before his death.
F.Y.I. - Not much to see at the bottom. But after the long assent, the views of the city of Florence are stunning. Perfect for a sunny day. Each level you can stop at (to take a breath) allows a different point of view.

Giotto's Bell Tower. Duomo on right.

They don't call it a 'bell tower' for nothin'.

I took this video climbing to the very top of the bell tower. I apologize because I wasn't using my head. You'll see once you watch the video. Whoops!

Top of bell tower

Duomo dome from top of bell tower

Duomo dome. See the people at the top? I've been there.

St. John's Baptistery from top of Giotto's Bell Tower

Baptistery of St. John
F.Y.I - The 'most' important tourist attraction here are the doors of the baptistery. They were the life's work of Lorenzo Ghiberti and considered some of the most important pieces of Renaissance art. One of the doors is nicknamed the 'Gates of Paradise.' Legend has it that Michelangelo looked upon this particular set of doors and said, "These doors are fit to stand at the gates of Paradise." Impressive, right?! The original Ghiberti doors are currently housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, or the Duomo Museum. Unfortunately, upon my trip, the doors were in restoration and I could not view them. So, I'll have to and you'll have to admire the replicas.

Baptistery of St John

Gates of Paradise

Other doors

Alter of St. John's Baptistery

Jesus, stage right, please.

Jesus, stage left, please.

Ok, goofing aside, this is the ceiling of the baptistery. Pretty impressive.

Basilica de San Reparata
Location - Under the Duomo
F.Y.I. - Way back when, Italians were pretty know for tearing down old basilicas and building new ones a-top. In some cases, this might happen 4, maybe 5 times. So, beginning excavations below large duomos and basilicas today (or at least in this day in age) has unearthed much evidence of older lives and beliefs of Italians. This particular basilica is important because not only were remains from 1375 (and prior) discovered, but so were the remains of Brunelleschi, same guy who designed the dome of The Duomo. He was kinda the sh*t in his day.