Florence - Day 5

Last night wasn't a good night - I really needed to sleep but my cough just wouldn't stop, an hour and half later after getting into bed I was still coughing.

So this morning I'm off to a chemist to get something. I feel a bit bad that this is my fifth day here and haven't really visited any of the sites. So I'm going to visit the duomo with the "good" camera where I hope it will be early enough to avoid the larger crowds.



I should start with the place I've spend most of my time - the market.

and just nearby is the Chiesa di San Lorenzo



It's classed as a masterpiece of Renaissance church architecture it was started by Brunetti and completed in 1461 by Manetti. It sits on the site of the ancient church of St Ambrose from 393.



An important part of the San Lorenzo structure is the Cappelle Medicee - The Medici Chapels comprise the octagonal Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of the Princes) and the Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacristy).



The Cappella dei Principe is the Medici mausoleum and the Sagrestia Nuova is a design by Michelangelo. It is the funeral chapel of Lorenzo the Magnificent's family. Michelangelo worked on it until 1534 and it was then completed by Vasari and Ammannati.



The facade remains unfinished even though Michelangelo did present plans for it.




The views from the front of the church - oh for a perspective corrective lens to make it all line up!



As you can see the street markets wrap around the church



The duomo is only a block away from here - straight up this street







As you reach the street you meet traffic lights and get a rather uninspiring first look at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore which is unfortunate as it is anything but uninspiring.



Frankly it's just too big to fully appreciate and trying to capture it fully in one photo is a futile exercise.





It's better to break it up into sections and focus on the details


Right Side:









The Centre:











There's something about these two statues



it's the facial expression and the eyes especially that make them so lifelike



Main doors:





Detail over the main doors






Left Side:
















It's here that people are queuing to visit the church.

Besides the Basilica there is also the Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistry of St John)





This group huddled in front of the doors are sketching (very poorly)



and if you can't get near the doors - just use your zoom



Then there's also the Campanile di Grotto to see







Whatever the angle, it is most impressive. Standing 87.5 meters high there's 414 steps between you and the top of this thing.



As part of the basilica itself, the magnificent Cupola which reaches its peak at 91 meters.



The climb to reach the top is 463 steps.

Now I did mention a queue...well the end of it was someone down there



near the entrance of the cupola.



Horses tucking in for a well deserved feed in front of the Basilica.

By this stage I'd had enough - you need to keep one eye on what you're trying to photograph, the other eye on the traffic and another eye on the gypsies.

At least I sort of felt better that I had done "something" in Florence. I returned home, armed with cough suppressant.

You can see more photos at my Flickr set: Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore