Travel By Photos
The Duomo of Florence, or Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, is one of Italy’s largest churches, and the most prominent and highest structure in Florence. It is one of the structure in the cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, which includes the Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile bell tower. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence. No visit to Florence would complete without paying a visit to the cathedral complex. In fact the large dome of the Duomo could virtually be seen from almost any part of Florence. I can see it every time I stepped out of the camping site we stayed on my Florence travel 2 years ago. It is the most prominent structure in the historic city of Florence.
Here are some of my travel photos taken in and around the cathedral complex.
The Giotto tower next to the Duomo is the highest point in the city from where travelers could oversee the Florence city skyline perfectly.
From the Piazza della Signoria, we walked through some pedestrian streets in Florence heading North and the Duomo was not far away.
Along the side road of the Duomo, many street painters were gathered there to showcase their beautiful paintings and portraiture painting service were offered.
This is the back of the cathedral. When I was there 2 years ago, it was scaffolded and hoarded up for maintenance and cleaning works. You can see how rundown the marble surface was if compared with the front facade.
This is the interior of the cathedral where visitors or devotees were lining up to get into.
Next to the Duomo is the Florence Baptistery, one of the oldest buildings in the city, built between 1059 and 1128, as the venue for baptism. The Baptistry is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures.
This is the most famous East door, The Gates of Paradise, displaying scenes of baptism by Christ.
Another set of doors at South of the building, with bronze carving displaying various religious scenes. I remembered I was able to touch the doors when I first visited Florence 15 year ago but it was gated now. You could still see some bronze colour revealed at parts where being touched most by visitors.
That was it. Amazing heritage site, and great destination for travel photography hobbyists, isn’t it?
Travel photography tips: You will need ultra wide angle lens such as the Nikkor 10-24mm, to capture the whole structure from such a near distance within the square, and to expect some distortion of building lines as seen above.
Click HERE to view all my travel photos in full resolution via my flickr album.
If you love Florence as much as I do, why don’t plan your next budget trip to Europe? Check out my planning guide for Europe budget travel for some tips. 
– Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Europe
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You should know how much I love Florence by now. I took too many photos in Florence until a point where processing all of them really took me months of free time. Late always better than no show, here I’m gradually getting them sorted out and posting them in Travel Feeder. I have shared where we stayed for 2 nights in Florence before this. After crossing the River Arno via the Ponte Vecchio, the first tourist spot we wandered around in historic city centre of Florence was Piazza della Signoria, a popular meeting square for both local Florentines and foreign visitors.
Here are some of my travel photos shot in and around the square…
Piazza della Signoria was once the political and financial hub of ancient Florence during the 14th century, with various commercial and political buildings or palaces built around the square. Today, it is one of the most frequented travel sites in Florence as travelers can see and admire many of the finest sculptures created by top artists and sculptors during the Renaissance era. “The David” statue by Michelangelo is one of them.
Loggia dei Lanzi, an open-air sculpture gallery of antique and Renaissance art sits at the corner of the piazza, consists of wide arches open to the street, three bays wide and one bay deep. It features many of the finest sculptures which brought in from all over Italy.
Another angle view of Loggia dei Lanzi, which turned into a resting podium for many visitors.
Benvenuto Cellini’s “Perseus With the Head of Medusa” is one of the featured piece of art of the gallery made from bronze and is also one of my favourite sculpture. Look at the bloody Medusa’s head! Don’t worry, she won’t turn you into stone…
Giambologna’s “The Rape of the Sabine Women” in front and “Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus” at far back, 2 amazing multi-figured sculptures made from one imperfect block of white marble.
Palazzo Vecchio, the city hall of Florence, is the most significant building at Piazza della Signoria, with the replica of the “David” statue placed in front of its doorway. The original David used to be placed here but for preservation purposes, it was moved into the Accademia Gallery not far away from the Duomo.
The interior look of Palazzo Vecchio’s courtyard.
Apart from statues, sculptures and architecture, open air cafes are another feature of Piazza della Signoria. Travelers who had walked for the whole morning could sit down and relax there. People watching is another great thing to do also.
Sitting beside the Palazzo Vecchio are another two great pieces of art. One of them is the bronze “Equestrian statue of Cosimo I”, created by Giambologna also.
Another one is the “Fountain of Neptune” by Bartolomeo Ammannati with assistance from Giambologna, which features a Neptune figure at the centre of the octagonal fountain and river gods at perimeters.
Click HERE to view all my travel photos in full resolution via my flickr album.
Thanks to my FIT style of travel to Florence, we managed to wander around the piazza at our own sweet time. Next, we continued to explore another iconic structure of Florence, the highest building of all, the Duomo! If you love Florence as much as I do, why don’t plan your next budget trip to Europe? Check out my planning guide for Europe budget tour for some tips. – Travel Feeder, your ultimate photo travel guide to Europe
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