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

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

Independent tourists arriving inFlorence, travel guides strongly recommend to visit, in addition to the Señoria Square, the Old Bridge and the Uffizi Palace, the most famous and recognizable landmark of this amazing Italian museum city is the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Photos and images of this architectural masterpiece you most likely have seen. And these pictures were often taken from the air, because the dense buildings around the temple do not allow you to find the right angle to capture it entirely. But it will be much better than any photos to see the cathedral with your own eyes - when the setting sun gently gilds the red dome or when the lights of the spectacular illumination come on in the velvety Italian night. This is a church with a rich, interesting history and a kind of symbol. In the heart of Florence, the genius of the titans of the Renaissance left its mark in the stone.

Santa Maria del fiore cathedral

History of the Cathedral

The plan for the construction of the main city templewas adopted at the end of the thirteenth century. But it cannot be said that the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was built from scratch. Here was a small church of the 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. The young virgin from Palestine was subjected to various sophisticated tortures by cruel Romans for their commitment to Christianity in the 3rd century. The Church of the Holy Reparata was built around the sixth century. But also not from scratch. In ancient times, a pagan temple towered here. At the dawn of Christianity, a baptistery was built near it (a room for the baptism of neophytes). It is known that a cemetery was located around the church. Many tombstones of the Late Antique period were transferred to the temple Museum.

Cathedral santa maria del fiore florence

Medieval megalomania?

The first thing that amazes tourists coming to the Duomo- The cathedral is its size. The baptistery and the campanile (bell tower) are separate, although included in the architectural complex. But the building of the temple itself is truly amazing in its gigantic size. What is it, where does this gigantomania come from? To answer this question, remember when the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was built. Florence at the beginning of the XIII century experienced an economic flourishing and claimed primacy among the urban republics. And she dominated not only in Italy, but even in the whole of Western Europe. To demonstrate their leadership (first of all, to their main rivals - Siena and Pisa), it was decided to build the largest at that time cathedral and the highest campaign. According to the plan, the temple was supposed to accommodate half of the population of the city commune, which at that time reached unprecedented size - ninety thousand people. Such a structure challenged the art of medieval architecture. He was received by Arnolfo di Cambio, a renowned architect whose designs have already erected Palazzo Vecchio and the Church of the Holy Cross in Florence.

Cathedral santa maria del fiore photo

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore: Architect

The construction of the cathedral was a matter ofprestige. The building was supposed to be special. Therefore, the architect Arnolfo risked moving away from the Gothic canon, which prescribed the construction of sacral structures in the shape of a Latin cross. Thus, on top of these churches resembled the letter "T". The architect connected the Latin cross with the centric rotunda, which was to crown the dome. Three naves share widely spaced pillars. From the rotunda there is a perspective on the altar and the chapel in the transept. Di Cambio was not able to see the embodiment of his brainchild. He died in 1302, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, whose plan he nurtured, turned into an abandoned building for a long time. 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 of Reparata, the relics of Saint Xenovius "were found, and after a year the work was resumed.

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence photo

Eminent successors

The patron saint of the “construction site of the century” became powerfulwool merchants workshop (Arte della Lana). He hired not someone, but a renowned artist and architect Giotto. But the master was too ambitious to implement the plan of the predecessor. And he began to build a campaign. When he died (1337), only its lower tier was built. And then the work again froze for twelve years in connection with the Great Black Plague. In 1349, Francesco Talenti took over the baton of the main architect, who nevertheless managed to complete the construction of the bell tower. In 1359, the construction was headed by Giovanni di Lapo Gini. Then came other times. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence was replaced by many architects. And they were all "named." We know such masters as Giovanni d "Ambrogio, but also Alberto Arnoldi, and Neri di Fieravante, and Andrea Orkanya ... By 1375, the old church of St. Reparata was finally dismantled, and in 1380 they graduated from the main nave. But the facade of the building was completed ... only in the nineteenth century.

Cathedral santa maria del fiore in

Dome

As already mentioned, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del FioreIt was built so that all other similar Gothic constructions would not suit him. Indeed, the main church of Florence is only five meters in length, inferior to the famous Milan's El Duomo (153 against 158 ​​m). According to the plan of the architect di Cambio, the dome should have been crowned with a rotunda. But the cathedral had such a huge dresser that no one dared to begin work on its creation for a long time. And only in 1420, the great architect Brunelleschi took on the challenge. He proposed to the city council a brick octagonal dome plan. This gothic form of the vault should have been crowned with a decorative lantern. The works were complicated by a great height 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, after 15 years, a light dome turned 42 meters high turned up, which now defines the characteristic silhouette of Florence.

Cathedral santa maria del fiore architect

Interior

On an unprepared tourist, he producesa dual impression is that of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Photos of the temple often convey its rich exterior decoration. However, the interior, probably compared to the architecture of the facade, seems scarce. This is noted in the seventeenth century by the Russian traveler - a certain PA. Tolstoy. He writes that “the church is very large and made pretty and marvelous,” but there is no “inside”. It is also possible that such an impression was created from the contrast with the Orthodox churches. Yes, and modern tourists say that the church resembles a skillfully made casket, which is empty inside. Art critics notice that the external decoration of the cathedral was subordinated to the canons of the late Italian Gothic. The interior has become the scene of the most courageous creative experiments of Renaissance masters. The floor of the temple is completely made of marble. The main altar is made of alabaster and decorated with carvings. Masters used different varieties of marble (green, white and pink) to achieve a natural play of light. Renaissance luminaries and magnificent stained glass windows were created.

Campanile

Taking advantage of the fact that in the construction of the bell towers is notThere was a clear canon, Giotto fully revealed his talent as a master. He proposed to the city council a twenty-meter rectangular tower, reinforced by side buttresses. The facades created the impression of openwork due to the double window openings. In addition, all the walls of the bell tower are lavishly decorated with multicolor inlays and sculptures. And although the great master died at the very beginning of his work, other masters clearly adhered to his plans and drawings. As a result, “Giotto's Campanile” is known in the world as much as the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore itself, of which it is a part.

Cathedral santa maria del fiore plan

Baptistery

Достоверно известно, что крестильня существовала already in 897, before the construction of the Church of the Holy Reparata. Then the baptisteries stood apart from the churches, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is no exception. The modern baptismal form acquired gradually. Constructed in 1059, the walls after a century were lined with colored marble. The arch in the form of a tent was erected in the XII century. The Renaissance gave the Baptistery three bronze doors and marble sculptures above them. Moreover, it was an honor to decorate the Florentine baptismal in the competition for the best sculptors of Tuscany. The structure creates a false three-story impression, although in reality there are only two levels. The reason for such an optical illusion is the external facing of the walls with marble.

Temple and city

Not only in size and architectural masterpieces,but its history is remarkable Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Florence with its centuries-old history is closely connected with its main temple. A lot of great historical events happened exactly within its walls. Here he delivered his sermons on repentance Savonarola. In this temple was killed the brother of the ruler of Florence Lorenzo the Magnificent - Giuliano Medici. And in the crypt of the cathedral, Giotto, the author of Campanile, and Brunelleschi, the creator of the dome, found comfort.

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