Our Italian Adventure

La Nostra Avventura Italiana

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Il Duomo

We took the Terraces tour of the Duomo, and so got to climb to the top of the basilica's interior - the "terraces" are two very narrow walkways hanging on the walls of the church. The first terrace is 160 steps up, and the top of the Duomo was an additional 300+.

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Interior of the Duomo; frescoes at the top, two terraces on the walls between the stained glass windows.

A bit of history for those who haven't yet been to Florence. Il Duomo is the dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, built from 1296 to 1436. The dome, constructed from 1420 to 1426, was a marvel of engineering by Filippo Brunelleschi. It was the first dome constructed without a substructure - no scaffolding underneath for support while the brickwork was put in place. Brunelleschi was very clever, he didn't build one dome, he built two, separated by space with buttressing between. The exterior dome applies pressure inward, the interior dome pushes outward (I have no concept how this can be, but so said our guide). The octagonal dome was constructed by eight teams matching each row of bricks among the eight sides. After construction Bunelleschi destroyed all his drawings and notes so no one else could later use his method.  

The stairs to the top of the dome run between the two domes; it's a tight fit in most places because the same stairway is used for both directions and well, we weren't the only people there. It was a fascinating tour that gave us some history of Florence, the dome, and fortunately for me, enough time to take pictures of the cathedral interior, the frescoes in the dome (up close and personal), and Florence from the exterior portions of the terraces and then from the top of the cupola.

 

 

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