Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence: photo, architect, interior

For self-employed tourists arriving in Florence, the guidebooks are strongly recommended to visit, besides the Seignorie Square, the Old Bridge and the Uffizi Palace, the most famous and recognizable landmark of this amazing Italian city museum is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Photos and images of this architectural masterpiece you, most likely, you could see. And these pictures were often made from the air, as the dense buildings around the temple do not allow you to find the right angle to capture it entirely. But much better than any photos will see the cathedral firsthand - when the setting sun gently gilds the red dome or when in the velvet Italian night the lights of spectacular illumination light up. It is a church with a rich, interesting history and a kind of symbol. In the heart of Florence, the genius of the Renaissance Titans has left its mark on the stone.

History of the cathedral

The plan for the construction of the main city church was adopted at the end of the thirteenth century. But it can not be said that the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was built from scratch. Here stood a small church of Holy Reparata. And the most famous Florentine basilica is unique in that it began to be built when the previous structure was not yet destroyed. Until the end of the thirteenth century, Saint Reparata was considered the patroness of the city. This is a semi-legendary character. A young virgin from Palestine was subjected to various sophisticated tortures by cruel Romans for their adherence to Christianity in the III century. The Church of the Holy Reparation was built around the sixth century. But also not from scratch. In ancient times there was a pagan temple. At the dawn of Christianity, a baptistery (a room for the baptism of neophytes) was built near it. It is known that around the church housed a cemetery. Many tombstones of the late Antiquity were transferred to the Temple Museum.

Medieval gigantomania?

The first thing that strikes tourists who come to the Duomo - the cathedral, is its size. The Baptistery and the Campanile (bell tower) stand alone, although they are included in the architectural complex. But the building of the temple itself is truly amazing with its giant dimensions. What is this, why such gigantomania? To answer this question, one should remember when the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was being built. Florence in the beginning of the XIII century experienced an economic prosperity and claimed the primacy among the urban republics. And it dominated not only in Italy, but even in the whole of Western Europe. To demonstrate its leadership (primarily its main rivals - Siena and Pisa), and it was decided to build the largest at the time the cathedral and the highest campaigner. According to the plan, the temple was supposed to accommodate half the population of the city commune, which at that time reached an unprecedented size - ninety thousand people. The structure of such a scale challenged the art of medieval architecture. He was received by Arnolfo di Cambio, a renowned architect, whose projects in Florence already erected the Palazzo Vecchio and the Church of the Holy Cross.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore: the architect

The construction of the cathedral church was a matter of prestige. The building was supposed to be special. Therefore, the architect Arnolfo ventured to depart from the Gothic canon, which ordered the building 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 was to be crowned with a dome. The three naves divide the widely spaced pillars. From the rotunda, a perspective opens onto the altar and the chapel in the transept. Di Cambio did not see the embodiment of his child. He died in 1302, and the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, whose plan he cherished, for a long time turned into an abandoned building. The city simply did not have enough money for an ambitious project. The way out of the financial crisis was found in 1330: miraculously in the church Reparata "found" the relics of St. Zenovius, and a year later the work resumed.

Named successors

The patron of the "construction of the century" was the powerful shop of wool merchants (Arte della Lana). He hired not someone, but the illustrious artist and architect Giotto. But the master was too ambitious to implement the plan of his predecessor. And began to build a campaigner. When he died (1337), only its lower tier was built. And then the work was again frozen for twelve years due to the Great Black Plague. In 1349, Francesco Talenti adopted the baton of the chief architect, who managed to complete the bell tower. In 1359 the construction was headed by Giovanni di Lapo Gini. Then came the other times. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was replaced by many architects. And they were all "with a name." We know such masters as Giovanni d Ambrogio, but also Alberto Arnoldi, Neri di Fioravante, and Andrea Orcagna ... By 1375, the old church of St. Reparata was finally dismantled, and in 1380 the main nave was completed. 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 in order that all the other similar Gothic structures and in its soles would not suit. Indeed, the main church of Florence is only five meters in length inferior to the famous Milan's El Duomo (153 to 158 m). According to the plan of the architect di Cambio, the rotunda was to be crowned with a dome. But the cathedral had such a huge dresser, that no one dared to proceed to the works on its creation for a long time. And only in 1420 for the difficult task took the great architect Brunelleschi. He offered the city council a plan for an octagonal dome made of bricks. This gothic form of the vault was to be crowned with a decorative lantern. The work was complicated by the high altitude and the fact that the scaffolding did not stand on the ground, but was attached to the vertical walls of the cathedral. As a result, in 15 years a light, upwardly directed dome of 42 meters in height turned out, which now determines the characteristic silhouette of Florence.

Interior

On an unprepared tourist, he produces an ambivalent impression - this cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Photos of the temple often convey its rich exterior decoration. However, the interior, probably, in comparison with the architecture of the facade, seems meager. This marks in the seventeenth century a Russian traveler - a certain PA. Tolstoy. He writes that "the church is extremely large and done fairly and marvelously," but inside "there is no dress". It is also possible that such an impression was created from the contrast with Orthodox churches. Yes, and modern tourists note that the church resembles an artfully made casket, which is empty inside. Art historians note that the exterior of the cathedral was subordinated to the canons of late Italian Gothic. The interior became the arena of the most courageous creative experiments of the masters of the Renaissance. The floor of the temple is entirely made of marble. The main altar is made of alabaster and is decorated with carvings. Masters used different grades of marble (green, white and pink) to achieve a natural play of light. Coryphaeus of the Renaissance was created and 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 council of the city a twenty-meter rectangular tower, reinforced with lateral buttresses. The facades gave the impression of openwork thanks to the double window openings. In addition, all the walls of the bell tower are lavishly decorated with multicolored 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, the "Campanile Giotto" is known in the world no less than the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore itself, in which it enters.

Baptistery

It is well known that the baptismal church existed already in 897, even before the construction of the Holy Reparation Church. Then the baptisteries stood apart from the prayer temples, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was no exception. The modern form of the baptismal got gradually. Built in 1059, the walls were covered with colorful marble through the century. The tent was built in the form of a tent in the 12th century. The Renaissance presented the Baptistery with three bronze doors and marble sculptures above them. And for the honor of decorating the Florentine christening, the best sculptors of Tuscany fought in the competition. The building creates a false impression of a three-story, although in reality there are only two levels. The reason for this optical deception is the external lining of the walls with marble.

Temple and city

Not only the size and architectural masterpieces, but also its history, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is noteworthy. Florence with its centuries-old history is closely connected with its main temple. Many great historical events occurred 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 de 'Medici, was killed. And in the crypt of the cathedral, Giotto, the author of the Campanile, was comforted, and Brunelleschi was the creator of the dome.