begun in 1296, designed by arnolfo di cambio, building continued for 170 years, the famous dome was of course designed by brunelleschi. apparently when they were brainstorming how to build it, someone suggested that they simply build it over a huge pile of dirt with gold buried inside and then have peasants remove the dirt to find the gold. they eventually nixed that idea in favor of brunelleschi's ingenious engineering skills and the result remains marvelous to this day.
campanile di giotto: giotto is thought to be the architect of the bell tower.
19th c. gothic revival façade by emilio de fabis
ghiberti's baptistry doors.
my host mom said that even though she's been living in florence for 15 years, the duomo has never ceased to amaze her. needless to say, i'm sure i'll never get tired of it either :)
ps. i went to ash wednesday mass there yesterday. in the u.s. on ash wednesday you usually get a black smudge-y cross on your forehead but here the priest just sort of sprinkled some ashes in my hair. who knew ash wednesday would be different in italy?
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