Giotto's Campanile

Before heading out to Giotto's Campanile, I stopped by the local record store to find that the much anticipated PlayStation Move had launched here in Europe:

Pretty cool!

Adjacent to the colossus Duomo, lies the tower Giotto's Campanile (bell tower).



















Giotto's bell tower was constructed in 1359 with three different architects working on the dynamic architecture. Today it stands at a daunting 278 feet high and towers above all of Florence.

Etched throughout the exterior of the building are numerous symbolic and religious icons:



















Every hour, it rings its gigantic bells that can be heard throughout the city. It's an iconic structure that makes a for a great companion piece to the Duomo. I just had to check it out.

The first thing I encountered was this sign:















It wasn't exactly the most encouraging thing to see before climbing.

As I started, déjà vu from climbing the Duomo began appearing. Endless flights of stairs with no foreseeable end.

I than however, began to see some refreshing light in the distance simmer through. Finally, I'd made it. It wasn't so bad....

No.

This was just the first level. Damn, I was tricked like this last time. Who knew the church has a sense of humor...

I went through about 3 levels before I finally reached the top. Here are some shots of the different levels as I was spiraling to the peak.

I also ran into this very familiar sign:

Ummm, moving on....

After about 234 breaks, 18 bottles of water and some hyperventilation, I crawled my way to the top of Giotto's Tower.

Here are a couple of videos I captured while atop:

Part 1
Part 2

Although the sight was incredibly impressive, the Duomo provided a much more fleshed out panoramic view.















It was still great to experience Florence from a different vantage point and look onto the Duomo, eye-to-eye.

Here's a rather humorous shot of a Japanese tourist trying to wave to opposing sightseers on top of the Duomo.

After properly experiencing the full 360 view of the Giotto's bell tower, I slowly made my descent towards ground level.

On the way down, I ran to a quite mysterious door that looked like something straight out of a horror film.

Fearing what could lie behind it (a hunchback?), I hurriedly continued on.

Before reaching the floor, I did capture a very interesting shot of some repair work being done in the interior of the tower.

Gave a rare insight into some of the behind the scenes work that's done on these ancient structures.

After the long trek down, I eventually hit rock bottom and gingerly strolled home.

On the way home, I saw a fairly fascinating race between a horse and a car, nature vs. technology:

The horse won...Take that Einstein!

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore PART Two

Locked, stocked, and ready to go, I traveled to the Basilica di Santa Maria on an early Saturday afternoon.

I was presented with a moderate line that moved relatively quickly:

After I actually got into the Basilica and paid the entry fee, I took a deep breath and began the long ascent.

I was presented with this sign very early on:















Don't you love how everyone obeys the rules...

I journeyed up the 400+ steps for quite a while, seeing only this every time I turned the bend:

The damn thing would never end.

Finally I began to see some light up ahead. Yes I had made it to the top...Finally....

Nope....

I came upon a room with marble statues of past archbishops. While I was impressed with the work, I felt oddly tricked.

So I continued to climb.

And climb some more...

Finally I arrived to an opening which led to a balcony which gave an impeccable up-close view of the frescos I previously seen from afar.

The intimate perspective was stupendous. Intricate details blossomed while celestial sunlight seeped through the stained glass.















They were giants. For frescos as aged as these, the colors were surprisingly rich and full of depth. I guess this is also attributed to the extensive restoration work that must have gone into the reconstruction.

But, the amount of time and focus spent, not only painting but constructing such a dome, must be have been unfathomable.

I'm also very much afraid of heights, so looking down from a steep position had me in a very nervous and shaky state.



















After such a literally encompassing experience (the painting is all around you). I continued on to the top.

The stairs got much steeper and narrower as I made my ascent. It also didn't help that people were coming down as I was going up.

Finally, after crawling, scraping, and pushing my way through, I reached the final flight of stairs which lead to the tip of the dome.

Breathtaking is all I can say.

Rather than me just describe how intoxicating the experience was, I'll let technology do all the work:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Good luck trying to get a view like that from the ground.

Florence was finally put into perspective after viewing it from such a vista. Truly astounding and utterly invigorating. The magic of Florence really came together during these moments.

After spending about a good 20 minutes just taking in the grandeur of it all, I began my descent.

With a million people trying to climb, crawling down was just as tight and narrow as my ascent.

About half-way through my journey down, I was presented an open area. The room housed some of the authentic tools and machines used to make the speculator Duomo.

While alone in the room, a sudden urge struck me.

Lured by temptation and the ability to make myself immortal, the fire to write my name on the wall washed over me.

Unable to hold back such instincts, I immortalized myself into the ethereal walls of the Basilica.

Shush, don't tell anyone...

After such a devilish spasm, I drifted back into my normal, angelic self and continued on my descent.

I was welcomed by stairs, stairs, and more stairs:

I also ran into this sign again:















I felt very guilty...

After what seemed like an ungodly amount of stairs, I finally reached ground zero.

Here's one more shot I took before leaving:



















Sooo, after completing such an amazing accomplishment, I treated myself to this as a reward:

Jealous, are we?

Next on the list, this bad boy:

I'm not even going to think how many stairs this one has.

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore PART One

Considered by many to be one of the finest sites in all of Italy, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the most recognizable piece architecture in all of Florence.

Built in 1436, it is one of biggest churches in all of Italy and until recent times, was the largest dome in the world.









 





The Basilica is a phenomenal piece of architecture that represents the ancient design of central Firenze flawlessly.

The actual cathedral complex is located in the spacious Piazza del Duomo, which is also the path I take every morning to travel to school. How cool is that? To walk past one of the greatest symbols in European history. Each day I am dwarfed by utter scope of the cathedral and just marvel at the intricacy of it all. It never gets old.

The first trip that I made to specifically visit the Duomo was with the school. It occurred during the first week of the semester actually.

The Italian guide who toured us through the Basilica only spoke Italian, making it almost impossible to fully digest his commentary.

Here's a shot of him passionately commentating, while our student from Mexico looks on with a sense of bafflement!

 


Luckily, I was able to break down small bits every so often through visual language, fellow students, and astute beginner's knowledge of the language (not really).

I present to you some exterior shots of the Basilica as he commented on the Gothic architecture:

The outstanding statues and designs on the exterior of the cathedral were fantastically full of symbolic imagery and represented the catholic aura of the religion exceptionally well.

We were than lead into the actual interior of the Basilica where I was utterly bewildered by the actual size and scope the cathedral had to offer.

We moved farther in towards the actual dome.

As I broke my neck looking up, the true majestic quality of the Basilica presented itself.

The frescos painted on the actual dome were downright jaw-dropping. The imagery that ranged from celestial to demonic were fantastically realized by the seamless transition between the images.

The essence of good and evil was brought to vivid life:

While we were surveying the frescos from a far distance, there is actually a long path that leads up closer to the frescos.

While the guide mentioned that the steep ascent would not be part of our tour, he did say we were welcome to climb the audacious path in our own time. Definitely, going to try that!

We were than lead into an underground crypt, which held the burial tomb of Filippo Brunelleschi, architect of the actual dome.

With time rapidly deteriorating, we surveyed the interior once more before leaving.

The Basilica also housed the famous painting "La Commedia Illumina Firenze," showcasing Dante surrounded by his influences and imaginations:



While the seminar with the school was a great introduction to the Basilica, I knew I had to return in my own to time properly digest the grandeur of the cathedral. With the forthcoming weekend free, I penciled in the Duomo.

One of the things I hoped to do in my personal visit was to climb to the very peak of the Duomo. It was going to be a quite a feat, with over 460+ steps to climb. But hey, I didn't travel all the way to Florence to decline such once in a lifetime experiences.

To see those ethereal frescos up close and survey the celestial vistas of Florence from such a vantage point was just something I couldn't pass up.

All I would need is a bottle of water and some Andreas Scholl to set me on my ascent.  It would be a pleasant and rewarding trip.

Confident in my decision I strolled off to my apartment, looking forward to my forthcoming escapade.

But as I was leaving, I saw a few travelers who had just journeyed down from the gigantic trek.

They looked like they had just come out hell. Broken and weathered, they grasped onto their water bottles as if their lives were enclosed within them.

Maybe this forthcoming journey would not be as pleasant as I thought...