Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
spiration from Rome's Pantheon, Brunelleschi arrived at an innovative engineering solu-
tion of a distinctive octagonal shape of inner and outer concentric domes resting on the
drum of the cathedral rather than the roof itself, allowing artisans to build from the ground
up without needing a wooden support frame. Over four million bricks were used in the
construction, all of them laid in consecutive rings in horizontal courses using a vertical
herringbone pattern. The final product is 91m high and 45.5m wide.
The climb up the spiral staircase is relatively steep, and should not be attempted if you
are claustrophobic. Make sure to pause when you reach the balustrade at the base of the
dome, which gives an aerial view of the octagonal
coro
(choir) of the cathedral below and
the seven round stained-glass windows (by Donatello, Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uc-
cello and Lorenzo Ghiberti) that pierce the octagonal drum.
Look up and you'll see flamboyant late-16th-century frescoes by Giorgio Vasari and
Federico Zuccari, depicting the
Giudizio Universale
(Last Judgement).
As you climb, snapshots of Florence can be spied through small windows. The final leg
- a straight, somewhat hazardous flight up the curve of the inner dome - rewards with an
unforgettable 360-degree panorama of one of Europe's most beautiful cities.
After the visual wham-bam of the facade and dome, the sparse decoration of the cathed-
ral's vast interior, 155m long and 90m wide, comes as a surprise - most of its artistic
treasures have been removed over centuries according to the vagaries of ecclesiastical
fashion, and many are now on show in the Grande Museo del Duomo. The interior is also
unexpectedly secular in places (a reflection of the sizeable chunk of the cathedral not paid
for by the church): down the left aisle two immense frescoes of equestrian statues portray
two
condottieri
(mercenaries) - on the left Niccolò da Tolentino by Andrea del Castagno
(1456) and on the right Sir John Hawkwood by Uccello (1436) - who fought in the ser-
vice of Florence in the 14th century.
Between the left (north) arm of the transept and the apse is the Sagrestia delle Messe
(Mass Sacristy), its panelling a marvel of inlaid wood carved by Benedetto and Giuliano
da Maiano. The fine bronze doors were executed by Luca della Robbia - his only known
work in the material. Above the doorway is his glazed terracotta
Resurrezione
(Resurrec-
tion).
A stairway near the main entrance of the cathedral leads down to the
crypt
(combined tick-
et to dome, baptistry, campanile, crypt and museum adult/child under 14 €10/free)
, where excavations
between 1965 and 1974 unearthed parts of the 5th-century Chiesa di Santa Reparata that
originally stood on the site.
