Santa Maria del Fiore

The famous Duomo of Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. There was some renovation work being done while we were there, hence the scaffolding around the bell tower of Palazzo Vecchio.

Construction of the massive cathedral -- one of the world's largest churches -- took more than a century, from 1296 to the mid 1400s. The red-tiled dome, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, is one of the most famous architectural works of the Renaissance and is the crowning glory of Florence. When Michelangelo set out to design the dome for St. Peter's in Rome, he paid tribute to the dome in Florence ("I'm going to make its sister larger, yes, but not lovelier."). Inside the cathedral, there are priceless works by several other Renaissance artists, including stained glass designs by Donatello and Ghiberti.

The bell tower to the left of the church was designed by Giotto, and has come to be known as "Giotto's tower" (Campanile di Giotto). One of the few regrets I have from Florence is that we never climbed the steps of Giotto's tower to see the view. There is a famous photograph of Florence with Brunelleschi's dome in the foreground and the city sweeping out below it, which is taken from Giotto's tower.

LENS: 100-400 at ~200mm | FILM: Fuji Velvia | EXPOSURE: f/11 at 1/?", polarizer | DATE: 10/03

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