Duomo

The Duomo (cathedral) is certainly one of Florence's largest attractions -- in both senses of the word.  The church's construction started in 1296 and wasn't finished until 1436, when the dome was completed.  It was built, at the time, to be the world's largest church.  I read somewhere that it can hold 30,000 people!

Click on any of these thumbnail images to see a larger version...


Here you can see the base of the free-standing bell tower next to the Duomo.


This is the Duomo from pretty far away -- at the Boboli Gardens.  You can see how it dwarfs every other building.


A closer view of the baptistery's doors (explained at the right).

 
This is a clock located on the inside.  It is somewhat fashioned like a sundial, having only one hand.


The dome is beautifully painted with "last judgment" frescos.


Even the floor is cool.
 


  This is just the front of it -- it is deep, and the domed area is monstrous.  This is actually two pictures pasted together because the building was simply too big to fit in the camera's frame!

 


The doors to the baptistery, located across the street from the Duomo's main doors, are beautiful, and each one is a story from the Old Testament.  They are:

Adam & Eve are expelled from Eden Cain murders his brother, Abel
The drunkenness of Noah and his sacrifice Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac
Esau and Jacob Joseph sold into slavery
Moses receives the 10 commandments The fall of Jericho
The battle with the Philistines Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

 


The main door (below) is crowned with this beautiful painting and amazingly detailed sculpturing.

 


The main doors.  Nothing was skimped upon when it came to the decorations of this beautiful building.

 

 

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