Enhance your holiday travel experience by downloading this audio tour of Duomo Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Forence, Italy.
Great Discoveries Audio Tour will provide you with the most enjoyable and informative way to visit, Florence's spectacular Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, known throughout the world as simply the Duomo. This distinctive Italian landmark is a lavishly decorated poem in stone, whose magnificent dome sores in triumph above the clutter of Florence's city streets. The Cathedral's name St. Mary of the Flower is a title that deliberately linked the Virgin with Florence's longtime heraldic emblem, the lily. The Cathedral, measuring 502 feet in length and 125 feet in width, is one of the largest buildings in all of Christendom, exceeded only by St. Peter's in Rome, St. Paul's in London, and the Duomo in Milan.
Santa Maria del Fiore has not always been Florence's Cathedral. Both the Baptistery and the Church of San Lorenzo once fulfilled that role. According to medieval legend this resplendent building, with its elegant multi colored marble facing, was built over the remains of an ancient temple to the Roman god Mars. An earlier and much smaller church Santa Reparata, probably built in the 7th century, once stood on this spot. Centuries later the Florentines added their dazzling Cathedral, Brunelleschi's remarkable dome and Giotto's famous freestanding Campanile, or bell tower.
By the 13th century, Florence Italy was one of the wealthiest cities of the civilized world and the richest in Italy, but for all its importance and prosperity it was one of the last medieval cities to plan a great cathedral. Other Italian cities had built or were building splendid new churches, not the least, Pisa and Siena, both major Florentine rivals. Grandiose statements in stone were a vital part in any medieval city's sense of self worth, hence the comment of Florence's ruling Priorate or Council, that their church, Santa Reparata, 'was too crudely built and too small for such a city.
In 1294, the Council elected to build a new cathedral and decreed: 'It will be so magnificent in size and beauty as to surpass anything built by the Greeks and Romans. Considering that all the acts and works of a people who boast of an illustrious origin should bear the character of grandeur and wisdom, we order Arnolfo, director of the works of our commune, to make the model, or a design of the building, which shall replace the church of Santa Reparata. It shall display such magnificence that no industry, nor human power, shall surpass it. It must be admitted that it would be difficult to express a more noble idea and a more elevated sentiment than this.
This carefully researched tour guides you through this magnificent Cathedral as a professional narrator, accompanied by historically appropriate background music, points out and describes its most significant works of art and other treasures.
Step back in history as you listen to enchanting tales of the Duomo, her treasures and of course Brunelleschi's grandiose dome and Giotto's famous Campanile.
Guides are recorded in easy to follow segments that are readily located on your iPod. This 2 hour & 3 minute, 20 track, audio tour is designed to work with an easy to read building diagram, with clearly numbered locations, which coordinate with the track numbers and descriptions displayed on your iPod.
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Enhance your holiday travel experience by downloading this audio tour of Duomo Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Forence, Italy.
Great Discoveries Audio Tour will provide you with the most enjoyable and informative way to visit, Florence's spectacular Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, known throughout the world as simply the Duomo. This distinctive Italian landmark is a lavishly decorated poem in stone, whose magnificent dome sores in triumph above the clutter of Florence's city streets. The Cathedral's name St. Mary of the Flower is a title that deliberately linked the Virgin with Florence's longtime heraldic emblem, the lily. The Cathedral, measuring 502 feet in length and 125 feet in width, is one of the largest buildings in all of Christendom, exceeded only by St. Peter's in Rome, St. Paul's in London, and the Duomo in Milan.
Santa Maria del Fiore has not always been Florence's Cathedral. Both the Baptistery and the Church of San Lorenzo once fulfilled that role. According to medieval legend this resplendent building, with its elegant multi colored marble facing, was built over the remains of an ancient temple to the Roman god Mars. An earlier and much smaller church Santa Reparata, probably built in the 7th century, once stood on this spot. Centuries later the Florentines added their dazzling Cathedral, Brunelleschi's remarkable dome and Giotto's famous freestanding Campanile, or bell tower.
By the 13th century, Florence Italy was one of the wealthiest cities of the civilized world and the richest in Italy, but for all its importance and prosperity it was one of the last medieval cities to plan a great cathedral. Other Italian cities had built or were building splendid new churches, not the least, Pisa and Siena, both major Florentine rivals. Grandiose statements in stone were a vital part in any medieval city's sense of self worth, hence the comment of Florence's ruling Priorate or Council, that their church, Santa Reparata, 'was too crudely built and too small for such a city.
In 1294, the Council elected to build a new cathedral and decreed: 'It will be so magnificent in size and beauty as to surpass anything built by the Greeks and Romans. Considering that all the acts and works of a people who boast of an illustrious origin should bear the character of grandeur and wisdom, we order Arnolfo, director of the works of our commune, to make the model, or a design of the building, which shall replace the church of Santa Reparata. It shall display such magnificence that no industry, nor human power, shall surpass it. It must be admitted that it would be difficult to express a more noble idea and a more elevated sentiment than this.
This carefully researched tour guides you through this magnificent Cathedral as a professional narrator, accompanied by historically appropriate background music, points out and describes its most significant works of art and other treasures.
Step back in history as you listen to enchanting tales of the Duomo, her treasures and of course Brunelleschi's grandiose dome and Giotto's famous Campanile.
Guides are recorded in easy to follow segments that are readily located on your iPod. This 2 hour & 3 minute, 20 track, audio tour is designed to work with an easy to read building diagram, with clearly numbered locations, which coordinate with the track numbers and descriptions displayed on your iPod.
Author/Spoken: Bill Browne / Christopher Kent
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