Article about the building of Brunelleschi's dome on the Duomo in Florence
 

Check out the February issue of National Geographic for a most interesting article about the construction of this historic and magnificent structure. It brought back the cherished memory of my wife and I climbing the 473 steps (yes, I still remember that exact number!) to reach the top. It's still one one of our most cherished travel experiences.

PS: The February 12 Nova episode on PBS will will detail exactly how Brunelleschi built the dome.

Some say it symbolized the beginning of the Renaissance - thanks for posting.

There's an excellent book on this topic, "Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture", by Ross King. After reading it, both my husband and I wanted to climb the dome, although we're generally not much interested in climbing things. At the time, I was seeing a doctor in Florence, and at my next appointment, we went several hours early to climb the dome.

There's also an interesting exhibit about the building of the dome, including tools and workers' time and payment logs, in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. I believe this museum is going to be closed for restructuring and expansion, though, beginning sometime in the spring.

A reminder that the Nova show about the construction of the Florence Duomo dome will be on PBS Wednesday night.

I agree. Read Ross King's book. Brilliant.

The Nova show was fascinating.

PS: I guess my memory is not as good as I thought. Checking my notes from that trip, I noticed that the actual number of steps leading to the top is 463, not 473. (Hey, that still doesn't diminish the feat of climbing to the top!)

I read the book also; and I am looking forward to climbing the dome on our up-coming trip to Italy!!!

The book was extremely well written and entertaining. The PBS show took fifteen minutes of information and tortured us into one hour. If I saw Brunelleschi make one more chalk drawing, I was destroy the dome myself.

I did have one question. How come they needed American masons, aren't there skilled Italian masons or those from another EU country?

Sorry, IMDonehere, but I didn't feel the least bit tortured watching the show. In fact, it created just the opposite reaction: It inspired/motivated me to buy the book!

I'm with HowardR on this one. I thought the show was great and I really enjoyed the National Geographic article. I can't wait to climb the 463 steps to the top and I hope to see Ricci's model while we are in Florence this coming June. I'm about to start reading Ross King's book. I totally agree with you HowardR - fascinating stuff! Thanks for the heads up on this.

john183, you are in for an unforgettable experience. Of the many memories from our three trips to Italy, the climb to the top of dome remains as one of the most memorable.

For those who missed the February 12 showing of "The Great Cathedral Mystery" on the construction of Brunelleschi's miraculous creation:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient...l-mystery.html

Brunelleschi is a personal hero of mine, not only for his creation but ignoring those who were against him, simply because they didn't understand his thought. We been there a couple of times and admired from the inside, but not the top.

You absolutely must climb to the top for three reasons:
1. The closeup view of the wonderful artwork inside the dome.
2. The magnificent views of Florence once you get to the top.
3. And, of course, the pride in saying that you climbed all 463 steps!

There is one compelling reason not to-I have acrophobia. I have missed spectacular views all over.

We are really looking forward to the views both inside and out. Are we looking forward to the 463 steps?? Not so much. But we will be very proud to say we did it. Are there are a few places along the stairs we can get out of everyone's way and rest for a couple of minutes without stopping the whole parade?

We want to take it sort of slow and easy climbing the dome in Florence because we will be hiking the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast a few days later and then climbing to the top of St Peter's in Rome a few days after that. My legs are tired just thinking about it - but I can't wait!

I forget how many, but yes, there is at least one "rest area" on the way where you can "[i;; over" and let others pass. I vividly recall a pair of men ahead of us who moved out of the way to let us pass. (I also remember that they were smoking!)

Thanks again HowardR.

The thing that interested my husband and me the most was being able to see the construction techniques described in the book. The view was great, too, although views from high up, with the exception of mountains, don't really get me excited.

It's too bad the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo is closing this spring. You folks will just have to return to Florence when it reopens to see the exhibits about the building of the dome. It's a great museum, often overlooked by tourists to Florence. There is a Michelangelo sculpture, the Deposition from the Cross, and a Donatello sculpture of Mary Magdalene that is one of the most compelling works of art I've ever seen. There are many other works of art that used to be in the Duomo, and a history of the Duomo itself (not just the dome). I was surprised to learn that the beautiful multi-hued facade is quite recent.

In fact, a visit to this museum, in my opinion, is time better spent than going into the Duomo. Do go inside the Baptistery, though.

We've barely given any mention to the wonderful mural (if that's the right word) that you get a closeup view of as you climb to the top of the dome. That's certainly one of the main incentives for doing the climb in the first place.

I did both the Duomo stair climb, and, the St. Peter's stair climb in the late fall/winter. I can't imagine how hot it would be in the summer. I hope our Italy visitors won't be doing this in July! If so, double your gelato intake afterwards.

I'm a little less than half way through Ross King's book and it is fascinating. I can't wait to get there and climb the 463 steps to see everything that is described in the book. Does anyone know the name of the park where Ricci's model is located? Everything I read says it is on the south bank about a half mile downstream from the cathedral but I can't seem to find the name of it for sure.

It was a gorgeous day here yesterday and we practiced for the duomo by climbing the 600 steps to the top of Amicalola Falls near Dahlonega GA. We surprised ourselves by not only making it to the top and back but we were pain free today. We are looking forward to our reward of double gelatos followed by several glasses of prosecco after seeing Florence from the top!!!!

john, as an added confidence that you'll make to the top, I assume you'll be as happy as I was to learn that there is place to rest climbing the 463 steps. Actually, you'll want to stop and admire the artwork, which if my memory serves me correctly is about 2/3 the way up.
Personal historical note: The 463 steps was our longest vertical journey until we climbed the more than 700+ steps leading up to Vernal Falls in Yosemite. (Full disclosure: We didn't realize that climb was that great when he started it!)

After a little googling, I found that Professor Ricci constructed his scale model of the cupola in the Park of the Anconella, on the opposite side of the Arno to the Duomo. This reconstruction, made using tools of the time of Brunelleschi, established the methods he used to construct it, which were a mystery. Prof. Ricci predicted that certain tools and supports would be found in the empty spaces of the cupola, and they were indeed found, verifying his theory.

I found an article online saying that the model has recently been cleaned of the graffiti that vandals had sprayed on it. Visit it soon before it's defaced again.

Thanks Howard - I've said this before but we always try to be the tortoises and not the hares when climbing steps - and that philosophy works for us. The 600 steps we did Sunday is pretty close to our limit I think. Another 100 (especially if you weren't expecting that many) would be tough. Congrats on surviving!!

bvlenci - thanks for the info on the park - I didn't spend a lot of time googling it but none of the articles I found mentioned the park's name. And I'm really sorry that the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo is closing this spring. It sounds like a great place to visit. Do you know when it will reopen?

I finally finished Ross King's book and agree with the others who have given it a rave. It completely what I call the Brunelleschi's Dome trifecta: the Nova program, the book and actually climbing to the top.
Incidentally, the last chapter of the book does give a description of the 463-step climb.

I agree, Ross King's book is wonderful. I read it after climbing the Duomo, I just wish I had read it before.
Anything similar about St.Peter's, that we will climb in about a month?

St. Peter's is, in a way, a more complicated story because the building of the basilica took place over a longer period, with numerous popes and architects involved (Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Maderno, Bernini among others). Some interesting power struggles.

You might try "Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter's" by R. A. Scotti. Very interesting but not quite as good as Ross King's Brunelleschi book. I think this owes to the more complicated story.

Ross King does have a book on the Sistine Chapel: "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling."

I had to read the following for an architecture class. Maybe a little more academic than you want, but still readable: "St. Peter's" by Keith Miller.

Also, “The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome" by Jake Morrissey, which touches on both those artists' roles on works in St. Peter's. An okay book about two interesting artists/architects who shaped Baroque Rome.

Congrats on completing the trifecta Howard! I'm really enjoying King's book too but I'm so crazy busy right now I can't seem to find much time to read it. I'm about 2/3 of the way in to it and it's really getting me pumped up to climb the steps this summer. I'm looking forward to joining the trifecta club.

mama_mia - I guess we are gluttons for punishment because like xyz99 we are going to climb to the top of St Peter's this summer too. It sounds like I might enjoy Morrissey's book. At the slow rate I'm reading I'll probably be trying to finish reading it on the plane on the way over. LOL! Thanks for the recommendations.

mama_mia, great list, thank you so much! Now I need to go get and read them.

john183, we were 10 years younger when we climbed the Duomo, and I remember it was not easy. But we'll climb St. Peter's too...I just love that kind of views.

If anyone is looking for another climbing challenge in Italy, try the tower in Siena's Piazza del Campo. It's around 400 steps. While the views may not match those from the dome in Florence, they're still worth the climb. And the sight of the piazza from on night is interesting.

I'm proud to say I have joined Howard (and I'm sure many others) in completing the Brunelleschi's Dome trifecta by climbing to the top of the dome on Friday the 13th. It turned out to be a lucky day for us because the climb did not seem hard and it was an incredible experience. It was supposed to be a hot day so we went first thing in the morning and it worked out very well for us.

Thanks again Howard for starting this thread and thanks to all for the info and the encouragement. The Nova show and Ross King's book were great (as was the National Geographic article) but actually climbing to the top and seeing it in person was fantastic - well worth the effort.

You're welcome, John. And, I totally agree that the effort to climb to the top was well worth it....and then some!

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo was on my list for our Spring 2015 trip. I'm so bummed - it will not be open until Fall of 2015. The Pieta and the Gates of Paradise were at the top of my list. Well, I can't rearrange the time so I'll have to come back! And climbing the Duomo, well, we will see, but I'm going to attempt it. Thanks for the info and the link to the Nova program.