Il Duomo: my constant companIon, my newest frIenD. The roots of the heart of Florence, a transplant’s view. Kiki Kornblatt.
I
march the
463
steps to the top, the famous cupola perches on, without much
sandwiched between two layers of building masterfully designed, undertaken and completed by Brunelleschi. This is the famous cupola (Italian for dome) of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore in the heart of Florence. In Italian Il Duomo means “the House of God,” and while there are many duomos in Italy, this is The Duomo – complete with a capital D – both the biggest and most famous of them all. I tell myself it’s OK: I have been to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Empire State Building in New York. Just last week the leaning tower in Bologna –not Pisa– of 500 (plus or minus three) steps, and nearly every day I stick my head out my bedroom window on the fourth floor (the same height as the base of the cupola – a mere 180 feet) to stare at the tops of people’s heads as they walk by on the cobble stone street below. I don’t think it is the hike, the narrow passage, or the elevation that is giving me this feeling. Maybe I can reckon it to butterflies in my stomach. Before relocating to Florence I was rather ignorant of the Duomo. Just a few pictures of my parents’ trip to Italy (my mother prophesied I would study here) and somewhere I picked up the obscure story of one idea how to solve the problem of building the cupola without buttresses (these architectural elements reminded Florentines of northern enemies: Germany, France, Milan). I was positive this story was a myth until I found an actual source: Ross King’s “Brunelleschi’s Dome”– and it always cracks me up to think of such a plan executed. The idea was to build up a gigantic mound, filling the dirt with coins, and once the cupola was built over it, bring in peasants to dig out the money while clearing out the dirt. My love for the Duomo began on the night I moved to Florence. The housing director walked us quickly to our apartments, two blocks (or five gelato stands, or three illegal street merchants) south of the Duomo. We quickly passed the front steps of the Santa Maria del Fiore, the church
more than a glance. The mission was to get to our new residences, not gawk at the scenery we would live arm and arm with for the next four months. I went to see the girls in the apartment next door, wandered to the top floor and found another door with double, ancient, jail-looking slide bolts, and exited. I stopped in awe, losing my breath, and gaining so much wonder. This famous site looming brilliantly over their rooftop terrace was my next-door neighbor, near enough to knock on the wall to quiet it while it snored in its sleep. But distant enough in generations I feel I will never understand it, even after hearing its stories and making personal visits.
the hIstory. After more than fifty years of planning and de-
lays the construction of the cupola began on the Santa Maria Del Fiore in 1420, the original model included a dome higher and wider than the Pantheon in Rome, a similar structure which was built with technology since “lost” to the world. This extreme design needed an architect who could work out the problems with creative solutions. Filippo Brunelleschi managed to construct an architecturally sound, beautiful cupola. He masterminded special “chains” made of wood, sandstone and iron hidden within the structure as well as the machines that would winch them to the top and managed to incorporate a herringbone pattern of nearly 4 million bricks. All these aspects that seem to weigh down such a structure actually helped it to last nearly six centuries… and counting. The cupola (minus the Lantern at the top, finished after Brunelleschi’s death, but based on his design) was completed without the use of wooden scaffolding or “centering” in 1436. Brunelleschi was the first ever to achieve –or even attempt– this process, and the last to build a masonry dome of such magnitude. The cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore is larger than the domes of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In Ross King’s “Brunelleschi’s Dome,” Michelangelo, the man of mythical proportions who built the drum and cupola of St. Peter’s, claimed after inspecting the Duomo in Florence, “that he could equal but never surpass it.”
the clImb. Today you can climb the daunting 463 stairs to
the top of the cupola at more than 300 feet from the ground; this is no adventure for the weak at heart, mind you. Get a glimpse of the architectural features from inside the two walls and realize how massive the cupola really is by seeing the Lantern, made with 5,000-pound blocks of stone, up close. The open hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 am – 6:20 pm and Saturday 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, closed on Sundays and holidays. Begin at ground level at the south side entrance of Santa Maria del Fiore. The cost is six euro a person for the climb to the top, with no rest areas, but glimpses along the way of the city below you through windows used to redirect airflow around the cupola. Reaching the top, the sea of white and red buildings spreads out around you until it reaches the hillsides of Tuscany. You can even get a glimpse of my apartment, which seems like a hop, skip and a jump away (but please don’t try this).
for
more on thIs subject. The Duomo is the keystone of
Florence, used as a compass for tourists and locals alike. Likewise you will find information about it in any Italian travel book, even sold as pamphlets in eight languages at a cart in the Piazza del Duomo. If you can get your hands on one, a proud Florentine willing to spend time talking with you about their world-renowned landmark makes the best guide, however be prepared for exaggerations and bragging. If you are longing for a further dive into the history and architecture of this famous Duomo, please read my primary source: “Brunelleschi’s Dome” by Ross King, I purchased a copy at the local English speaking bookstore: Paperback Exchange, found in the shadow of the Duomo.
I l Duomo Feature writing assignment for travel writing class Santa Reparata International School of Art, Florence Italy, Author, editor, layout & typography