Florence, Italy always reminds me of Sandra Bullock’s movie While You Were Sleeping. Since I’ve never been there (and this post is more out of jealousy than anything else), I’m imagining which cathedrals to see when I’m in Florence. My online search for beautiful cathedrals in Florence gave me these results:
1. Duomo
Construction of the Duomo began in 1296 and was designed in Gothic style with a main nave, two side aisles, and an apse in the back. The cathedral holds many works of art like the Last Judgment by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari; the Last Supper by Giovanni Balducci and Luca Della Robbia; the mosaic over the main entrance by Gaddo Gaddi; and the stained glass windows designed by Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello and Donatello.
2. Santa Croce
The Santa Croce or the Basilica of the Holy Cross also follows a Gothic style of architecture and like the Duomo, holds many works of art and masterpieces like the S. Luigi di Toulouse by Donatello; the Santi Giovanni e Francesco by Domenico Veneziano; and the Resurrezione by Santi di Tito.
The cathedral is also home to several sepulchers of personalities like Leon Battista Alberti, Dante Alighieri, Galileo Galilei, and Niccolo Machiavelli, to name a few. The Santa Croce is also host to several private ancient chapels, namely:
- The Cappella dei Pazzi
- The Cappella dei Medici
- The Cappella dei Bardi
- The Cappella dei Bardi di Vernio
- The Cappella dei Baroncelli
- The Cappella dei Castellani
- The Cappella dei Peruzzi
- The Cappella dei Rinuccini.
3. Santa Maria Novella
The cathedral of Santa Maria Novella is 100 m long and is also Gothic in architecture. The vaulted ceiling is comprised of four diagonal stumps which are black and white in color.
Like the Duomo and the Santa Croce, the Santa Maria Novella is home to many works of art from the 14th-16th century like the Tomba della Beata Villana, the sepulcher of the Patriarch of Constatinople and of the Bishop of Fiesole, and other works of art.
I’ll take another virtual tour in Florence and follow this post with one about museums and galleries in the following days.