For independent tourists arriving in Florence, guidebooks strongly recommend visiting, in addition to Senoria Square, the Old Bridge and the Uffizi Palace, the most famous and recognizable landmark of this amazing Italian museum city - the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. You most likely have seen photos and images of this architectural masterpiece. And these pictures were often taken from the air, because the dense buildings around the temple do not allow you to find the right angle to capture it in its entirety. But it will be much better than any photographs to see the cathedral firsthand - when the setting sun gently gilders the red dome or when the lights of spectacular lighting light up on a velvet Italian night. This is a church with a rich, interesting history and a kind of symbol. In the heart of Florence, the genius of the Renaissance titans left their mark in stone.
The history of the cathedral
The plan for the construction of the main city temple was adopted at the end of the thirteenth century. But it cannot be said that the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was built from scratch. There was a small church of St. Reparata. And the most famous Florentine basilica is unique in that it began to be built when the previous structure was not yet destroyed. Saint Reparata was considered the patroness of the city until the end of the thirteenth century. This is a semi-legendary character. A young virgin from Palestine was subjected to various sophisticated tortures by cruel Romans for her commitment to Christianity in the III century. The Church of St. Reparata was erected around the sixth century. But also not from scratch. In ancient times, a pagan temple rose here. At the dawn of Christianity, a baptistery was built near it (a room for the baptism of neophytes). It is known that a cemetery was located around the church. Many tombstones of the late antique period were transferred to the temple museum.
Medieval gigantomania?
The first thing that strikes tourists coming to the Duomo - the cathedral is its size. The Baptistery and Campanile (bell tower) are separate, although included in the architectural complex. But the building of the temple itself is truly amazing with its gigantic dimensions. What is it, where does such gigantomania come from? To answer this question, you should remember when the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was built. Florence at the beginning of the XIII century was in its heyday and claimed the primacy among the urban republics. Moreover, she dominated not only in Italy, but even throughout Western Europe. In order to demonstrate his leadership (primarily to his main rivals - Siena and Pisa), it was decided to build the largest cathedral at that time and the highest campanile. According to the plan, the temple was to accommodate half the population of the city commune, which at that time had reached unprecedented proportions - ninety thousand people. A structure of this scale challenged the art of medieval architecture. It was received by Arnolfo di Cambio, a renowned architect, whose designs in Florence had already been erected by the Palazzo Vecchio and the Church of the Holy Cross.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore: architect
The construction of the cathedral was a matter of prestige. The building was supposed to be special. Therefore, the architect Arnolfo ventured to move away from the Gothic canon, which prescribed the construction of sacred structures in the form of a Latin cross. Thus, from above, these churches resembled the letter “T”. The architect connected the Latin cross with a centric rotunda, which the dome was supposed to crown. Three naves are separated by widely spaced pillars. From the rotunda, a perspective opens onto the altar and the chapel in the transept. Di Cambio did not happen to see the embodiment of his brainchild. He died in 1302, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, whose plan he cherished, for a long time turned into an abandoned construction site. The city simply did not have enough funds for an ambitious project. The way out of the financial crisis was found in 1330: miraculously, the relics of St. Zenovius were “found” in the Reparaty Church, and after a year the work was resumed.
Famous Successors
The protector of the “construction of the century” was the powerful workshop of wool dealers (Arte della Lana). He did not hire anyone, but the renowned artist and architect Giotto. But the master was too ambitious to implement the plan of his predecessor. And he began to build a campaign. When he died (1337), only its lower tier was built. And then the work again froze for twelve years in connection with the Great Black Plague. In 1349, the baton of the chief architect was taken over by Francesco Talenti, who still managed to complete the bell tower. In 1359, construction was led by Giovanni di Lapo Gini. Then other times came. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence has been replaced by many architects. And they were all "with a name." We know such masters as Giovanni d'Ambrogio, but also Alberto Arnoldi, and Neri di Fieravante, and Andrea Orkanya ... By 1375, the old Church of St. Reparata was completely dismantled, and in 1380 they finished the main nave. But the facade of the building was completed ... only in the nineteenth century.
Dome
As already mentioned, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was erected so that all other similar Gothic structures would not suit him. Indeed, the main church of Florence in length is only five meters inferior to the famous Milanese El Duomo (153 against 158 m). According to the plan of architect di Cambio, the dome was to crown the rotunda. But the cathedral had such a huge trick that no one dared to start work on its creation for a long time. And only in 1420 did the great architect Brunelleschi take up the difficult task. He proposed to the city council a plan for an octagonal brick dome. This gothic form of the arch was to be crowned with a decorative lantern. The work was complicated by the great height and the fact that the scaffolds did not stand on the ground, but were attached to the vertical walls of the cathedral. As a result, after 15 years, a light, 42-meter-high dome turned upwards, which now defines the characteristic silhouette of Florence.
Interior
He makes a double impression on an unprepared tourist - this is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Photos of the temple are often conveyed by its rich exterior decoration. However, the interior, probably compared to the architecture of the facade, seems meager. This is noted back in the seventeenth century by a Russian traveler - a certain P.A. Tolstoy. He writes that “the church is zealously large and made fairly well and marvelously”, but inside “there is no decoration”. It is also possible that such an impression was created from the contrast with the Orthodox churches. Yes, and modern tourists say that the church resembles a skillfully made casket, which inside is empty. Art historians also notice that the exterior decoration of the cathedral was subordinate to the canons of late Italian Gothic. The interior has become the scene of the most daring creative experiments of Renaissance masters. The floor of the temple is completely made of marble. The main altar is made of alabaster and decorated with carvings. Masters used different types of marble (green, white and pink) to achieve a natural play of light. The luminaries of the Renaissance created magnificent stained glass windows.
Campanila
Taking advantage of the fact that in the construction of the bell towers there was no clear canon, Giotto fully revealed his talent as a master. He proposed to the city council a twenty-meter rectangular tower, reinforced by side buttresses. The facades created the impression of openwork thanks to double window openings. In addition, all the walls of the bell tower are generously decorated with multi-color inlays and sculptures. And although the great master died at the very beginning of the work, other masters clearly adhered to his plans and drawings. As a result, Giotto’s Campanile is no less known in the world than the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, of which it is a part.
Baptistery
It is reliably known that the baptism already existed in 897, even before the construction of the Church of St. Reparata. Then the baptistery stood separately from the prayer temples, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is no exception. The baptismal complex acquired a modern look gradually. The walls built in 1059 were lined with colorful marble a century later. The arch in the form of a tent was erected in the XII century. The Renaissance gave the Baptistry three bronze doors and marble sculptures above them. Moreover, the best sculptors of Tuscany fought in the competition for the honor of decorating the Florentine baptismal. The construction creates a false impression of a three-story building, although in reality there are only two levels. The reason for this optical illusion is the external wall cladding in marble.
Temple and city
Not only the size and architectural masterpieces, but also its history is notable for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Florence with its centuries-old history is closely connected with its main temple. Many great historical events happened precisely within its walls. Here he delivered his sermons on the repentance of Savonarola. In this temple, the brother of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Giuliano Medici, was killed. And in the crypt of the cathedral, Giotto, the author of the campaignana, found solace, and Brunelleschi - the creator of the dome.