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Firenze florence. after rome, we spent a night in florence with our gracious guide, jessica, who was studying abroad there. at night we visted the ponte vecchio, one of the oldest bridges in italy, which also managed to avoid nazi razing during ww2. the next day some of us visited the statue of david while others ventured to the piazza di michelangelo with a view of the city. finally, we climbed all 450 steps of the duomo to get a view of the city. that night we went to milan where we again had gracious hosts, luca and eleanora. |
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the duomo | |
the baptistry in front, the basilica next and the dome at the end |
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duomo facade |
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green, white and red marble; the colors of the italian flag |
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baptistry doors |
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ghiberti won the commission on these doors in a contest that included donatello and brunelleschi. they feature most of the new testament and michelangelo called them the gates to paradise |
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duomo tower |
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duomo |
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baptistry |
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everyone born in florence for hundreds of years was baptised here, including michelangelo |
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the streets of florence |
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duomo |
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while climbing the duomo, you get closer to the fresco painted on the inside of the dome. the theme had christ near the oculus saving the people and the devil around the bottom rim eating people and shoving pitchforks in uncomfortable places. |
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from the top of the duomo |
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florence |
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ponte vecchio |
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almost 700 years old, this medieval bridge spans the river arno. the legend is that it was originally covered in butcher and fish markets but the venice aristocrats built covered walkways to avoid mingling with these types, and eventually ran them out with high taxes in order to put jewelry stores in. |
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arno |
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the ponte vecchio was also allegedly the only bridge in florence spared by the nazis, by an express order of hitler, although they block both entrances with rubble. |
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milan |
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duomo di milano |
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milan mall |
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bull in milan |
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milanese spin their heels on the bulls... netherlands... in silent jest of the once capital city, turin, represented by bull. |
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castello sforzesco |
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milan |
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