(Cathedral of Our Lady of Florence) Florence, Italy
This church is commonly referred to as “The Duomo” or “Del Duomo”, which is generally translated as “the cathedral” or “the main church”. Each of the 225 dioceses of Italy has a duomo, but “The Duomo” most commonly refers to the main church of Florence.
We particularly enjoyed the view of the Duomo and the city of Florence from the incredibly beautiful campanile (bell tower), built in the 1300s under the initial direction of Giotto (and thus commonly called Giotto’s Campanile). We chose this excursion over a climb in the dome itself upon a recommendation we found from Rick Steves, that the campanile tended to be less crowded and you get to see the dome from the campanile.
Baptistery:
The doors of the Baptistery are particularly reknowned. Some of these are reproductions with the originals safe stowed away in the museum. Here are the panels I managed to photograph and identify:
I noticed two delightful things about the Duomo because it dominates the piazza in the city center of Florence (and because our Airbnb was only a few blocks away). One: the deep tones of bells in the campanile resound beautifully even blocks away. Two: Slivers of the Duomo are visible from various parts of the city.
Recommended Reading:
The Cathedral the Baptistery and the Campanile by by Gabriella Di Cagno (Mandragora)
Links:
Virtual Tours of the Dome and Campanile
Brief video tour of the Church and the view from the dome:
