10 Pretty big, eh?
Day 16 - 3:05pm
Us looking at the huge dome of Florence's Dumo (cathedral). The cathedral, one of the biggest in the world, is known for its massive dome and quite a story comes with it. When the cathedral was first designed the plans called for a dome to span 42 metres and rise 54 metres from the floor of the cathedral. The only problem was that at the time nobody knew how to build a dome of that size. Up stepped Brunelleschi, the same guy who designed the Basilica Di San Lorenzo. His design called for the construction of two shells: a light outer shell about one metre thick and an inner shell four times thicker. Brunelleschi's genius was to lay the brickwork in a herringbone pattern in cantilevered rings, thus allowing the massively heavy dome to support itself as it grew, without the use of scaffolding. On March 25, 1436 - Annunciation Day, and the Florentine New Year - the completion of the dome was marked by the papal consecration of the cathedral. Looking up at the dome one can't help but be impressed, but no matter how good it may look from below it doesn't photograph well enough to appreciate its size and that's why you're being subjected to a picture of us looking at the dome rather than a picture of the dome itself. Btw, Women have to cover their shoulders in large Catholic churches in Italy, something we found weird. That explains why Meg is wearing what looks like a hospital operating gown. Dumo, Florence, Italy. August 29th 2007
