Italy Trip #22- Florence: Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers

front of the Cathedral

Welcome to the 22nd blog of our Italy tour. This blog looks at  the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Flowers.

WHAT IS THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE? - The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, translated in English means "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers." It's also called "Il Duomo di Firenze." It is the main church of Florence and and one of the largest churches in the country. Construction started in 1296. It was built in the Gothic style with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. (We'll look at the dome in the next blog).

Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers

Tom at the side of the Cathedral

THE MARBLE EXTERIOR - has "polychrome marble panels" in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

Inside the Cathedral

WHERE IS IT? - The cathedral complex which includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile.is located in Piazza del Duomo. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the center of Florence.

Tom hamming it up in the cathedral

A partial side view of the cathedral - it was too big to get all of it!

HOW BIG IS IT? - The dimensions of the building are enormous: building area 8,300 square meters (89,340 square feet), length 153 meters (502 feet), width 38 meters (125 feet), width at the crossing 90 meters (300 feet). The height of the arches in the aisles is 23 meters (75 feet). The height of the dome is 114.5 meters (375.7 feet). As you climb up to the top of the dome, and we'll show you views from that adventure, you'll get a good feel for the size of this mammoth structure.

NEXT:  4 Fun Facts About Brunelleschi's Dome