CATTEDRALE SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE
The fourth largest cathedral in the world, Santa Maria del Fiore is crowned ...Read more
BASILICA DI SAN MARCO
Majestic basilica with 5 domes, here is the most beautiful example of ...Read more
CAPPELLA SISTINA
The most famous of the wonders of the Vatican museums, especially for the ...Read more
ORATORIO DI SANTA MARIA ASSUNTA
Small oratory housing the wooden statue of the Madonna of the Chains in ...Read more
CHIESA E CHIOSTRO SAN FRANCESCO
Church whose first foundations date back to 1114, with the representation ...Read more
SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE
The most important monument of Bergamo preserving a Romanesque structure.Read more
CATTEDRALE DI PALERMO
One of the most beautiful jewels of Sicily for its majestic medieval ...Read more
BASILICA OF SANT'AMBROGIO
A marvellous example of Romanesque art, this basilica is as powerful as it ...Read more
CENACOLO VINCIANO
The most famous representation of Christ's last meal surprises the viewer ...Read more
CATTEDRALE SANTA MARIA ASSUNTA
Read moreThe Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is one of the oldest Gothic churches in Italy. A true stone book, it is also one of the most beautiful creations of Italian Romano-Gothic art, the construction of which lasted almost two centuries (12th and 14th centuries), a symbol of Siena's wealth and prosperity.
Most of its sumptuous façade,built between 1284 and 1299, is the work of Giovanni Pisano, although the bas-relief on the south side of the Pardon Gate is by Donatello (the original is in the Museum of the Work). The facade is composed of white, black and red marble, its three portals and colonnades are decorated with fine sculptures. The horizontal effect of the white and black marble stripes characterizes its bell tower dating from 1313.
The interioris remarkable with its height under the ceiling. At your feet, the coloured marble floor, finely worked and divided into 56 sacred and profane scenes, is exceptional. Unfortunately, it is not possible to see all of them at the same time because a part is covered to preserve them. The finesse of the whole, created between 1372 and 1547, is prodigious. When the German composer Richard Wagner visited the cathedral, he was "moved to tears by this show," his wife Cosima told in a letter written in 1880, and the choir and high altar are byBaldassarre Peruzzi (1506). In the right transept, we can see a Baroque chapel attributed to Bernini, while the left transept houses the splendid pulpit with porphyry columns and green marble of Nicola Pisano, a marvel of Gothic sculpture, as well as works by Donatello (such as the bronze statue of Saint John the Baptist). There is also Michelangelo's Saint Paul (1502), probably a self-portrait.
The crypt, opened to the public in 2002, located under the duomo's pulpit, is a total surprise. There are frescoes from 1270-1275 in a remarkably preserved state. This cycle of paintings was made dry (pittura a secco) by several artists such as Guido da Siena, Dietisalvi di Speme, Guido di Graziano and Rinaldo da Siena. 180 m² of scenes including the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. Access is from the back of the main entrance of the cathedral, through the San Giovanni Baptistery.
Against the left side of the cathedral, the Libreria Piccolomini, built in 1495 by Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini Todeschini (future Pope Pius III), should not be missed.
DUOMO DI MONTREALE - MONREALE CATHEDRAL
Two powerful quadrangular towers with a splendid interior and a Treasury ...Read more
BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE
One of the great basilicas called "patriarchal" of Rome.Read more
CATTEDRALE METROPOLITANA DI SAN PIETRO
Cathedral dating back to the year 1000 and named Metropolitana in 1582Read more
CUPOLA DI SAN PIETRO
Cupola offering a beautiful view of the Vatican City in Rome.Read more
CUPOLA DI BRUNELLESCHI
Fascinating! The largest masonry dome in the world, which illustrates ...Read more
BASILICA SANTA MARIA NOVELLA
Florence's first basilica, one of the capital's most important religious ...Read more
CHIESA DELLA MARTORANA
Church of Greek-Oriental rite, whose exterior is endowed with a campanile ...Read more
BASILICA DEI SANTI MARIA E DONATO
A beautiful church, imposing and monumental, in Murano.Read more