I know you know the Florence Cathedral...but did you know...

So as you've seen from everyone else's posts, we did in fact make it to Florence over the weekend. I'm amazed and humbled at this crossroads of landmarks of Western Civilization. The Duomo, the Uffizi, the Academy, Ponte Vecchio, the Palazzo Vecchio...in and of themselves capture so much of the history of the Medici family and its power and indeed the origin and flourish of what we now call the Renaissance.

Panorama showing (l-r) The Baptistry, the Duomo, and Giotto's Campanile

Symbols of Medici Power and Renaissance achievement (Duomo on the left, Pallazo Vecchio on the right, as seen from the terrace of the Uffizi Gallery).

These things go without saying when you visit Florence and they are the "must do's". BUT, history and religion began in this Tuscan town LONG before the rise of the Medici.

For me, an especially grand treat was the opportunity to go 10 feet beneath the floors of the Duomo where archaeological excavations reveal the long-standing importance of the site. I have had a particular connection with these excavations since I was an undergrad when, as an intern for Dr. Franklin Toker, I had the opportunity to edit and annotate some of the materials from the excavations beneath the cathedral that he directed!

The story of the excavations.

Dating to as far back as the first half of the 3rd century, there is evidence of what is described in the academic literature as a "Christian Cult" of the Virgin Mary. Accordingly, Roman-style mosaics from an early villa on the site are plentiful at the lower levels of the excavations. By the sixth century, the actual familiar "cross-shape" had taken shape beneath the present day cathedral and as it appears, some services are again held here! Various layers also are home to a variety of crypts, burials and reliquaries too! Among the most famous Florentines buried here is none other than Filippo Brunelleschi, who rose to the challenge of building a dome that even Michelangelo would complement and copy for St. Peters! To learn more about the excavations beneath the Duomo, click here.

Indeed, in under an hour we were able to bear witness to 1700 years of Florentine and indeed Christian History!

More thoughts later...Ciao!

Outline of various structures beneath the Duomo.

Layers of excavation!

Roman-style Mosaics.

Roman-style Mosaics and a crypt (?)

The vast area beneath the Duomo.

Alter that appears to be in use today at the transept of the early church.

Brunelleschi's tomb!

Reliquary.