Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore: Dome + Crypt + Baptistery

I entered the church with a combined ticket, mainly to see the dome. It feels like you can get a panoramic view and a general sense of it without climbing to the top. Perhaps it would be more awe-inspiring if I had the chance to ascend. The overall architectural style is quite plain compared to the Milan Cathedral and St. Mark's Basilica. There are only a few stained glass windows, sculptures, and frescoes, but this simplicity gives it a sense of returning to the basics. The interior is more minimalist, making the golden dome stand out even more.😻😻😻 Actually, I prefer its exterior appearance. Although it has faded a bit, the light color scheme makes it look pure. The red-tiled roof blends well with the surrounding architecture, creating a harmonious and unified look that fits perfectly into Florence. I heard that the architectural structure is also a design that can leave a name in history, so I came to learn more:😁😁😁 In Italian: Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, it is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Florence and is of Gothic style. The entire complex is located in the Cathedral Square, consisting of the cathedral, the Baptistery of St. John, and Giotto's Bell Tower.🤓🤓🤓 The Cathedral was founded in 1296, and the outbreak of the Black Death in the fall of 1347 forced the construction to be interrupted. In 1367, a public vote decided to build an octagonal dome with a diameter of 43.7 meters and a height of 52 meters at the crossing of the nave. The cathedral was consecrated on March 25, 1436. The cathedral has a 19th-century Gothic Revival facade, designed by architect Emilio De Fabris. Its exterior is made of multicolored marble blocks in shades of white, green, and pink, creating a colorful yet harmonious appearance. The Dome features the large fresco "The Last Judgment" painted by the 16th-century Florentine artist Giorgio Vasari. In 1418, the Florence City Council publicly solicited designs for the construction of the large dome. The master of Roman architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi, won and became the chief architect. Instead of using the popular "centering" wooden framework for the arch, he adopted a novel "herringbone" construction method, building it from the bottom up.❤️❤️❤️ The Baptistery of St. John is located a few meters west of the cathedral and was built in the 7th century, rebuilt in its current form in the 11th century. It is a white octagonal Romanesque building. Florence's children, including famous figures like Dante and Machiavelli, were baptized here. The three bronze doors of the baptistery are engraved with bronze reliefs of stories from the Old Testament, two of which were made by Ghiberti and praised by Michelangelo as the "Gates of Paradise." Giotto's Bell Tower stands at 85 meters tall and was originally designed and supervised by the great painter Giotto in 1334, hence its common name "Giotto's Bell Tower." It is a Gothic structure, consisting of six square layers stacked into a cylindrical shape, with white marble cladding on the exterior, giving it a pure and elegant appearance. #TravelWithInterests #SunsetWatch #SunsetLovers #Italy #Florence #FlorenceTravel #WalkingInTheGlowOfSunset #SunsetsAreFree