What Goes Up Must Come Down

Saturday was an incredibly active day.  It started with an early morning exercise program called "Climb the Dome" - the incredible dome of the Duomo in Florence.  It's official name is Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, and to climb the dome, one must walk 463 steps UP, plus another 463 steps DOWN.

All the guidebooks suggested going to do this as soon as it opened to avoid standing for hours in long lines.  We followed that advice and were very glad that we did.  Not only did we avoid lines, but we also were able to linger in choice spots along the way - something that could never have happened were we to be part of the "herding" that necessity dictates when dealing with huge crowds.

The dome was built with steps between the outer and inner walls.  At certain places, the interior features catwalks that follow the perimeter of the dome's circumference.  I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures inside the cathedral because a mass was taking place in the side chapel at the same time we walked through the main dome.  I did take some pics from inside the steps (as seen above) and LOTS of pictures once we reached the top of the dome and were able to be on the outside looking down on Florence below.

Looking through a keyhole window halfway up the steps

View of city below

Dome on left is Santa Lorenzo

The Campanile (Bell Tower) next to the Duomo

My mom-in-law along the balcony

Close-up of people on the Bell Tower

Looking across the Arno Valley to San Miniato al Monte

After a short break for breakfast and a detour to the Mercado Santa Lorenzo to assist my brother-in-law and sister-in-law with negotiating the purchase leather jackets, my wife and I took a walking tour detailed in one of our Florence guide books.  It suggested allowing two hours to complete the walk.  Using Google maps, I got a projection of 45 minutes.  I figured the difference was in allowing time to linger at points along the way.  When my wife and I were actually done, we spent almost five hours!
The walk took us to the south side of the Arno River, crossing on the famed Ponte Vechio - a bridge lined with shops on both edges.  It was the only bridge crossing the Arno that was not bombed by Allied forces in WWII as they invaded Italy from south to north in 1944.  The Ponte Vecchio initially was the primary fish market.  But the Medicis decided that the smell was too unpleasant during the summer months, and their home was too close to the bridge to escape the smell.  So they ran the fishermen out and invited the goldsmiths in.  To this day, if one wants to see gold, silver and other precious metals and gems, the Ponte Vecchio is the place to go.

Florence is almost two difference cities between the north and south sides of the Arno.  The north is significantly built up with streets, houses, churches and other buildings.  The only green spaces are the interior courtyards of the larger buildings and most luxurious apartments or hotels.  On the south side, the hills are predominant, and there is a lot of green space with trees, gardens, and flowers.  The largest garden is behind the Palazzo Pitti, the last and grandest of the Medici homes.  Called the Bobili Gardens, it became a model for combining formal and informal plantings throughout Europe.  We chose not to go inside because we knew just the garden alone would probably be two+ hours, and we had several other places to see.  Besides, one must save a few things for the next time, right?

Doesn't look steep, but it is!

City Wall on the left looking downhill

From top of hill looking northward

Still going downhill - a LONG way down!

Finally, looking back to where we started

 We went up and down the hills, following the remains of the ancient city walls to reach the Church of San Miniato al Monte (Church of Saint Minias on the Mount).  It is up on a hill so high that one can look DOWN on the top of the Duomo's dome on the north side of the river.  Our guidebook said the view would be spectacular from there - and they understated the truth!

San Miniato al Monte - on top of the hill, naturally

San Miniato's Bell Tower

The Duomo is the huge dome just right of center

 

View across the piazza and back towards Florence

View from the cemetery behind the church

One surprise at San Miniato al Monte was that a wedding was happening in the church during our visit, yet we were still allowed inside!  My wife said that the wedding party had to know that their service would be observed by tourists when they made their arrangements.  I said that if I were the priest in charge, I wouldn't allow it.  I found it to be disturbing and detracting from the sanctity of the experience.  Given the Roman Catholic belief that marriage is one of the Sacraments - an even higher theological standard than what we United Methodists hold - I am flabbergasted that they allowed it!  Obviously, I didn't take pictures...

Me and my wife soaking up the sun

I took LOTS of pictures of the cemetery behind the church.  Unlike the church, which dates back to 1018 to enshrine the remains of St. Minias - beheaded for his faith in the 3rd century by Emperor Decius, the cemetery was opened in the mid-1800s. People - rich people - decided that one of the ways that they could honor their loved ones was to build what I call "pianissimo chiesa" (little church).  They really did look like what one would build if one wanted a child's playland church.  These little buildings were incredible, like miniature cathedrals.  The architectural variety was amazing, and most of them were very pretty.  However, I'm not sure if i found them to really be beautiful.  For me, beauty points beyond the initial visual impression of something to the deeper, more profound experience of the meaning behind the visual impression.  The deeper meaning that I took from these homes for dead people is that they were worth more dead than alive.  I don't think that was/is the intent - but it's what my own background brought to the context as I looked at them.

Notice the details in the facade, the fresco over the arch, and the mosaic over the door

A row of "Little Churches" in the cemetery

A little city of little churches - just for dead people

Incredible architecture - but who really enjoys it?

San Miniato seemed about being the church for dead people than the living, for the touristi rather than the congregation of the faithful.  Maybe I'm reading too much (or too little) into this.  I don't really know.  One thing I do know, if my kids/grandkids were to build one of these pianissimo chiesi for me, I'd come back to haunt them!!