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The Duomo
We had breakfast on the run this morning. Our first destination was to visit Florence's key landmarks - the Duomo. The plan for the Duomo was conceived in the 13th Century to build the largest church in the Catholic world. The Duomo was completed 150 years later.
The walk to the Duomo from our hotel took about 15 minutes or so and we were one of the earliest groups to get there. We decided to walk the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo for a view of Florence and its neighbouring regions. One of the key sights that I've been looking forward to on the trip was to climb to the top of St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Today's ascent of the Duomo can be considered a practice run for that later trek.
The Duomo was obviously not constructed to accomodate hordes of early 21st Century tourists. The climb was a killer !! For 80% of the climb, we had to follow a very narrow path that wound itself upwards tightly around a centre column. I wouldn't recommend consuming any alcohol prior to the climb as the potential disorientation may be vomit inducing !
It was good that there were platforms along the way where we could pull over for a breather. One of the platforms provided a great view of the interior ceiling of the Duomo. This ceiling is covered by a fresco of The Last Judgment.
The final 50 plus steps to the roof was a tortuous 60 degree climb. The roof of the Duomo afforded a 360 degree panorama of Florence and the surrounding Tuscan landscape.
3. Florence Panorama
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Piazza della Signoria
We took a short coffee break after returning from our climb to the top of the Duomo. Following which, we continued south towards our next stop, the Uffizi Gallery. We walked through the busy Piazza della Signoria on our way to the Uffizi. The Piazza is Florence's main civic square and it was teeming with people, cars and mini-buses when we got there.
This square is statue-central !
5. Perseus holding up the head of Medusa. 6. The Nepture Fountain
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I'm going to be sacrilegious and say that I thought the Uffizi Gallery was a big dud for me. Many would regard the Uffizi to be Florence's prime tourist attraction. We had to queue for almost 90 minutes just to get in, so obviously a lot of people do flock to this gallery. But I really couldn't see what all the fuss was about.
To quote the The Rough Guide on Tuscany & Umbria : " this is the finest picture gallery in Italy. So many masterpieces are collected here that it's not even possible to skate over the surface in a single visit."
The Uffizi is certainly very big and it had an almost endless collection of art and sculptures but none of them really appealed to me. The Vatican Museums in Rome was much more my cup of tea. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
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Ponte Vecchio
This bridge was built in 1345 and was lucky to survive the retreating Nazi's decision to destroy all of Florence's bridges. The shops built upon the bridge have been occupied by jewellers since 1593 to this date.
11. It's pretty crowded on the bridge 12. A newly wed couple admiring the shops 13. A view from the bridge
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Some Random Photos
14. A very ornate street lamp. 15. Florence has many nice modern shops occupying centuries-old buildings.
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Overall, we were all quite disappointed with Florence. The Duomo was interesting and the Uffizi fizzled but the Ponte Vecchio was great for people watching. Florence is a very busy and bustling place and it shows. All the great buildings in this city are covered by layers of grime and soot and the streets are quite dirty.