The climb to the top of the Duomo in Santa Maria del Fiore is 496 steps, according to the older English gentleman that took our picture at the top. He counted all of them, and his wife was behind him the whole time checking his work. Sheila, Stacey, Addie, and I took to the Renaissance stairmaster at 9:00am to beat the crowds. The stairs are definitely in the authentic Italian style of my apartment, but we all made it safely. After maybe 375 stairs, we found ourselves on a small ledge at the top of the dome with a great view of the fresco called painted on the dome’s ceiling The Last Judgment by Vesari. It was a depiction of heaven and hell, as almost all of the art in Florence is. This one was especially graphic, with Satan and his minions sodomizing naked men with flaming torches. I mean, that is a tough definition of hell. Those boys weren’t kidding around.
The Duomo was built by erecting two domes, one within the other to create a crescent moon. The inner shell holds the timbers to support the larger dome, a feat of engineering at the time. We left the internal dome and climbed the stairs to the outdoor terrace of the external dome. It had great views of Florence and we were lucky to be there on a beautiful morning.
A giant energizer bunny has taken over the Duomo...
PS. My apologies to Addie for misspelling her name. In my defense, I am a shitty speller.
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