Italy Trip Day 8

We went to the Academia Gallery and saw the sculpture of David.  It is so amazing.  I can see how it is definitely considered a timeless piece of art. After the museum we went into two churches.  The Basilica San Marco and the Basilica della Santissima Annuziata. We went and saw the Sempici Gardens.  They were pretty but will be beautiful in a few more weeks when they are fully in bloom.  Then we went and climbed the stairs to the top of the Duomo.  We got to walk around the inside of the dome and up on the top of the dome and saw a view of all of Florence.  We went and walked through the church and then went to the Duomo museum and learned the history of the building of the Duomo.  We also went into the Baptistry.  

Accademia Museum 

The David Sculpture by Michelangelo

Basilica San Marco

Basilica della Santissima Annuziata

Sempici Gardens

Katie and I split a crepe for lunch.  It was yummy!

Santa Maria del Fiore, the Duomo in Florence. 

Giotto's bell tower

Paintings on the inside of the dome

Walking around the ledge on the inside of the dome.

Looking down on the church from the ledge of the dome.

Views from the top of the dome. 

Climbing down the stairs from the dome. 

Walking around the upper ledge of the dome.  You can see the lower ledge of the dome in this picture. 

More pictures of the paintings on the dome.

Some winding stairs climbing down from the dome. 

Inside the church. Florence's Duomo is the 3rd longest church in the world. 

The Duomo Museum. The front of the museum used to look like this.  They took everything off of the front and redid the church.  The museum has a replica of what the front used to look like.  

This is the replica of what the church used to look like on the front. 

The original doors from the Baptistry

A cast of Michelangelo's pieta that is in St Peter's Basilica in Rome. 

It was fascinating to learn how they designed and built the dome.

Inside the Baptistry

San Gaetano church

Piazza della Repubblica