We began our sightseeing adventures today. We started by walking along the Arno river and visited the Galileo museum. It was a lovely day, sunny and warm, not too hot. The Galileo museum had lots of neat artifacts in it from science research through the centuries.
I also discovered the National Library!
After lunch, we went to the Cathedral. It is called the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, but it is known as the Duomo, because of the historic and massive dome on the top. The cathedral was built in the late 1200's, but the dome wasn't completed until 1436. Constructing a dome like this was a scientific achievement at that time, and was managed by Filippo Brunelleschi, amid artistic rivalries, secrecy and technical challenges. National Geographic has a short and
interesting article about the Dome.
Some of us climbed to the top of the Duomo, a tiring but rewarding exercise. Looking out over Florence, you can also see the Campanile, the cathedral's bell tower. Visitors can climb that, too, but we had done quite enough climbing for one day.
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