1st Trip to Florence

---

Friday my class took its first trip to Florence. We left at 9 a.m and didn't return till after 8. This trip was an introduction, and we mostly spent our time looking at some of the very first renaissance pieces and buildings. It'd be hard for me to describe everything here, so I'm just going to do more detailed descriptions with the pictures, and put them in the best order that I can.

---

Photos

The Front of Florence's Duomo
There's a bell tower to the left, and the largest dome in the world, built by Brunelleschi is in behind the facade. It's very hard to get a picture of all of them together because of the surrounding buildings.

The Bell Tower
This was the first piece of the duomo to be completed, sometime during the 1330s.

Inside of the Duomo.
The inside of the duomo was nice, but Siena's is much more beautiful (see following blog entry).

The Ceiling of the Dome.
This is a picture looking up from the floor into the world's largest dome!

Baptistry Doors
These are the original doors constructed by Ghiberti, that depict the life of Jesus.

The Palazzo Vecchio
Very similar in design to Siena's palazzo publico, and it was built 100 years later. This served as the "town hall" for Florence, but now it's another museum.

Replica.
The statue on the left is a replica of the famous David by Michaelangelo (in its original location). We get to see the original David in one of our following trips to Florence!

Santa Croce Church
One of the most famous churches in the Tuscany, because inside are the tombs of Galileo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Dante, and Ghiberti.

Dante's Tomb
Dante is the author of Dante's Inferno, and considered to be the father of the Italian language, since the official language was based off of his writings.

Ghiberti's Tomb
The artist/sculptor that constructed the doors for the Baptistry.

Crucifix that originally hung in the Church of Santa Maria Novella.
Sorry, I can't remember the artist's name (possibly Donatello?).

Photo 24
This is a bridge (can't remember the exact name) that when first constructed was used by goldsmiths and blacksmiths selling their goods. Today it is still mostly used for selling jewelry.