Rose window of Duomo… …the entire façade is dedicated to the Mother of Christ
Dates visited: September 14, 2004 – September 15, 2004
We travelled from Paris to Florence in little over 12 hours in an overnight train. I loved Florence and we visited it primarily for the Galleria degli Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery), Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze (Gallery of the Academy of Florence) and Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) aka Duomo.
- Galleria degli Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery): No pictures are allowed here, so unfortunately my memory of seeing these fantastic paintings is fading over time. Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is one of the star attractions here, along with Caravaggio’s Medusa and Sacrifice of Isaac, Leonardo’s da Vinci’s The Annunciation, and Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch.
- Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze (Gallery of the Academy of Florence): No pictures are allowed here either but who can ever get the Michelangelo’s David out of their memory? I wasn’t expecting the marble statue to be 17 feet tall, but it speaks volumes for David’s determination to take on Goliath.
- Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) aka Duomo: I had read about the Duomo in one of the thriller novels by James Hadley Chase so I had some frame of reference. However, the beautiful architecture was no match to what I had imagined. The elaborately decorated façade of the basilica has to be one of the most striking I’ve ever seen. This cathedral, along with Battistero di San Giovanni (The Florence Baptistery) and Giotto’s Campanile (bell tower), is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
-
- The elaborately decorated façade of the Duomo
-
- At the top of Duomo with Campanile (bell tower) in the background
-
- The Florence Baptistery… …constructed between 1059 and 1128
-
- Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) over the Arno river
-
- Time for some gelato after a long day at the Uffizi Gallery and the Gallery of the Academy of Florence
-
- “The Rape of the Sabine Women” by Giambologna, in the Loggia dei Lanzi
-
- Detailed artwork of the Duomo
-
- Main portal to the Duomo by Augusto Passaglia
-
- Pizzeria at Piazza della Signoria
-
- Eating authentic Tiramisu
-
- Giotto’s Campanile (bell tower)… …seen from the Duomo
-
- Vespa, Vespa everywhere
-
- Duomo and Giotto’s Campanile
-
- The “Penitent Magdalene” by Donatello at Museum of the Works of the Cathedral
-
- One of the famous doors of the Florence Baptistery—”Gates of Paradise” by Lorenzo Ghiberti
-
- Courtyard of the Uffizi Gallery
-
- “Perseus with the Head of Medusa” by Benvenuto Cellini in the Loggia dei Lanzi
-
- Alley next to the Florence Baptistery
-
- Basilica of St Lawrence
-
- “Crucifixion” by Giovanni di Balduccio at Museum of the Works of the Cathedral