Il Duomo, Florence

The famous Duomo of Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The sun broke through the clouds to hit the Cathedral, with the background remaining in shadow. This view is from the rooftop of our hotel. You can see other Florentine rooftops in the foreground, but the Cathedral towers over them.

The Cathedral is one of the world's largest churches. It took more than a century to build, from 1296 to the mid 1400s. Finishing touches to the facade were being made as late as the 19th century. The red-tiled dome is one of the most famous works of architecture in all of Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi around 1420. When Michelangelo set out to design the St. Peter's dome, he paid tribute to Brunelleschi's earlier work ("I'm going to make its sister larger, yes, but not lovelier.").

The bell tower on the right side was designed by Giotto in 1334. One of the few regrets I have from my trip to Florence is that we never climbed the steps of Giotto's tower to see the view of the city from up there. The famous photograph of Florence, with Brunelleschi's dome in the foreground and the city sweeping out from below it, is taken from Giotto's tower.

LENS: 100-400 at ~400mm | FILM: Fuji Provia 100F | EXPOSURE: f/11 at 1/?", polarizer | DATE: 10/03

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