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Michelangelo's David The sculpture was commissioned by the city to stand in Piazza della Signoria. Over 300 years later it was moved indoors for safekeeping. A copy stands in the piazza in its place. The statue established Michelangelo, at the age of 29, as the foremost sculptor of his time. David can be found in the Galleria dell'Accademia. The academy, founded in 1563, was the first school established to teach the techniques of drawing, painting, and sculpture.
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The Duomo,
cathedral, and its orange-tiled dome are have become Florence's most
famous symbols. This is Europe's fourth largest church and the
city's tallest building.
The dome, finished in 1463, was the largest of its kind to be built without scaffolding. The design, by Brunelleschi, has an inner shell that supports the outer shell. He copied the design of the dome from the Pantheon in Rome. The facade of the Duomo is clad in white, green and pink Tuscan marble. |
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| View from the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest surviving bridge in the city. It was built in 1345. The shops on the bridge were originally for butchers, blacksmiths and tanners. In 1593 they were replaced by jewelers who were able to pay higher rents. Today the bridge is home to antique and jewelry shops. | ![]() |
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The archway
leads to Pisa's Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles). We arrived
as the sun was heading to the west. The white marble and stone were
given a pinkish tint.
In the middle ages, Pisa's navy ensured dominance of the western Mediterranean. They had vast wealth and formed the basis of scientific and cultural revolution. The duomo (cathedral) was begun in 1064. It is one of the finest Pisan-Romanesque buildings in Tuscany. |
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| Yes, we had to
have the obligatory picture of Richard pushing the tower back into an
upright position. I
believe it is a law that all tourists take at least one photo with this
pose.
The tower was originally intended to be a bell tower for the duomo. It was begun in 1173 on silt subsoil. It began to tilt before the 3rd level was finished in 1274. Construction continued anyway. The tower was completed in 1350. For more facts on the tower go to the official web site.
NOVA produced an excellent show on the tower, it's construction, Galileo's work, and all that has gone in to correcting the tilt of the tower. For more on this go to their informative website.
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The circular
baptistry was begun in 1152 and finished a century later.
The delay was due to a shortage of money.
There are museums nearby, however, the main attraction is all most people come here to visit. |
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