June 9, 2025: Duomo and Bergamo

(written by Devri on June 10& 11)

We slept and had a lazy morning. Everyone felt better with some rest. We made everyone drink some Airborne, and we got everything packed up and headed out. We stopped at a cafe and Brian got some croissants for everyone, and while he was int here, I went into a shipping place to see if they did printing. They did, so I got our cruise boarding passes printed out, which was our last trip errand (we couldn’t print them until the 6th after we checked in.) We felt pretty good about how the morning was going, and we walked to the train station to stow our bags for the day.

After our bags were safely stowed, we walked to the Duomo Plaza. We had tickets to climb the Duomo at noon, and we arrived in the plaza just before 11:30. Our tickets to the Duomo allowed us to skip all the lines in the plaza, which was really nice. We went inside the Baptistry. Unfortunately, it was being renovated, so the dome was not usable, but we got to see some mosaics and the cool tile floors inside, as well as the columns and other architectural features. 

Baptistry of St. John

Gates of Paradise replica

Inside the Baptistery of St. John

We then decided to get in line for the dome climb, and it’s good we did as the line kept growing behind us the closer it got to noon. Just after noon, they started scanning our tickets. We went through another security check and then began the climb. There were over 400 steps to get to the top. Part way up, we got to walk around the bottom of the dome, on the inside, so we could see the magnificent fresco painting in the dome as well as the stained glass rose windows. 

Climbing the Duomo

16th century sculptures of bishops in the northwest tribune of the Duomo 

Bottom internal balcony of the Duomo

Last Judgement, painted by Giorgio Vasari and Frederico Zuccari, 1572-1579

Last Judgement

Bottom Balcony in the cathedral

Bottom Balcony in the cathedral, just below the drum windows by Donatello. Ghiberti, Andrea del Castagno, and Paolo Uccello

One of the drum windows

The incredible Duomo paintings

When Brunelleschi designed the duomo, he designed two domes together so that one would support the other, so when we climbed up, we were climbing in between the two domes. It didn’t seem as intense as St. Peter’s, but there were a few tight corners and shorter ceilings. The last bit of stairs reminded me of stairs on a submarine—almost more ladder than stairs. 

Spiral staircases getting narrower

View of Florence from inside the Dome

Tighter, narrower, steeper, trickier!

Huffing and puffing (at least I was), we made it to the top, and what a view! Most structures in Florence have similar terra cotta colored tile roofs, and so the view was incredibly charming. We walked all the way around the Cupola, took lots of pictures, and then made our way back down. We got to walk another section inside, higher up in the dome where we were right below the frescos and above the windows. The figures up there are MASSIVE! I think the paintings depicting hell are quite entertaining. Some people seem to be having fire spew out their bums. If that doesn’t inspire you to be good in this life, maybe nothing will. 

Made it!

View from the top

Heading back down

Southwest Tribune of dome exhibits the ancient machines for the Brunelleschi construction site

Tools and machines used in building the Duomo

We finally made our way to the bottom again, and then headed to the museum. Inside the museum were many of the original sculptures from the Duomo Cathedral. They had replaced them with copies so that the precious originals could be better preserved. It was cool seeing them up close. 

I’ve been sending Marco Polos of our trip to my sisters and my Grandma (and now my mom) every day, and the day before this, I showed them works by Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, and Emily responded that I was missing one of the Turtles. Well, we found the last one: Donatello had created many of the sculptures for the Duomo, and we got to see them. 

Thoughtful Prophet by Donatello, Opera del Duomo Museum

Tools and machines used to construct the Duomo

Wooden models of the Dome

Wooden models of the Dome

"Silver Altar" from the Baptistry of San Giovanni built between 1367 and 1483 

The museum itself was a bit of a maze. We knew there were things to see on the ground floor, and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors, but we struggled figuring out how to get to the 2nd and 3rd levels. We found the original baptistery doors (one of the things I really wanted to see), and they were incredible! I’d learned about them in school, and it was so cool seeing them in person. I can see why Michelangelo called one of them “the Gate to Paradise.” Their were exquisite carvings depicting scenes from the Bible. If I remember correctly, the doors were part of an art completion in Florence, and the winners got to have their doors installed on the baptistery. Andrea Pisano had one door, and Lorenzo Ghiberti had two doors, one of which was “The Gate to Paradise.” Did I already mention that they were spectacular? 

Gates of Paradise, 1425-1452, Lorenzo Ghiberti

Close up on one of Ghiberti's biblical panels

An old well discovered during construction of the museum

The cool thing about this museum is that they had copies of several sculptures that you could touch. It made those pieces much more meaningful. 

Hands on replica of Gates of Paradise Panel

We finally figured out how to make it to the 3rd floor, which was just a rooftop view of the Duomo (but what a view!). We took a few pictures up there and then went down to level 2. 

View of the Duomo from the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore

Brian asked ChatGPT what the must see things in the museum were, and we learned there was another Pietà by Michelangelo and a wooden sculpture by Donatello that we hadn’t seen yet, so we went looking. He eventually asked google where the statues were, and we were able to locate them. 

Replica of Michelangelo's Florence Pietà (1555)

We found the Pietà, and it was really cool. This one had Mary, another apostle, and Nicodemus holding Christ’s body just after they’d got him down from the cross. Michelangelo carved his own face onto Nicodemus. He had intended that statue to be placed in the church he planned to be buried in, but due to his frustration at the flaws in the marble, he mutilated the statue and never finished it. After his death, another artist put the pieces back together, and the piece bounced around several museums and other places before landing in the Duomo museum. 

In the same room, gold letters etched a sonnet written by Michelangelo directly across from the Pietà. He wrote the sonnet around the same time as he was working on the Pietà (which was his second to last piece he created):

The course of my life has brought me now 

through a stormy sea, in a frail ship,

to the common port where, landing,

we account for every deed, wretched or holy.

So that now I finally see

how wrong the fond illusion was

that made art my idol and my king,

leading me to want what harmed me.

My amorous fancies, once foolish and happy:

what sense have they, now that I approach two deaths

the first of which I know is sure, the second threatening.

Let neither painting nor carving any longer calm

my soul turned to that divine love

Who to embrace us opened his arms upon the cross.

Reading these words on the wall in the same room as his Pietà, I was so struck by Michelangelo's faith, his devotion, and his frustration that this piece wasn’t good enough, but how the rest of us think it is so perfectly beautiful. Where we see flaws in ourselves, the Lord sees beauty. Where we think our efforts aren’t good enough for Him, He sees a masterpiece. 

Michelangelo meant for his final Pietà to go to the chapel he planned to be buried at. One source online said he meant it to be his headstone. I love that he put his own face on Nicodemus, like he wanted to be there with the Savior. I was unexpectedly quite moved by his faith.

Replica with the actual Pietà in the background

Actual Michelangelo's Florence Pietà

Sideview of Michelangelo's Pietà

Next, we looked at Donatello’s Mary Magdalene. I decided that Donatello’s style isn’t my favorite as his faces are a little more rough. In this case, his style made Mary Magdalene look like a very poor in spirit character, so it did work to add some distress and emotion to the sculpture, bringing to mind the suffering she must have felt before Jesus cast the devils out of her. 

Replica of Donatello's Mary Magdalene

Actual Donatello's Mary Magdalene, c. 1453-55, poplar wood, stucco, pigments, and gold

After the Museum, we decided to check out the crypt and interior of the cathedral really quickly as it was time to head back to the train station. We rushed through both, but I felt satisfied with our time in Florence. 

Duomo Piazza

Ancient basilica of Santa Reparta, below the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral (aka the Duomo)

Ancient basilica of Santa Reparta

Duomo from the floor of the Cathedral

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (the cathedral with Brunelleschi's Dome)

Baptistery of St John with Gates of Paradise replica

Brian went to wait in line for our luggage (there wasn’t really one), and I went to grab food (I picked McDonald’s because I knew they would be quick). We met up to eat, get some snacks for the train, and then caught our train. 

At the Santa Maria Novella train station: "From this platform, in sealed train cars, hundreds of Jewish men, women, elderly people, and children left for the gas chambers or crematoriums in Auschwitz. A monument will not bring back their innocent lives, but it will help us to not forget, in hopes that this will never happen again." 

We were quite surprised to find ourselves seated in first class. We kept thinking, is this right? Are we in the right car. We were. We got wide, reclining seats, powered window shades, and snacks! We felt so posh!

Business Class Snobs

Pinky out

We had to get off in Milan and catch a regional train to Bergamo. The seats were fold down seats in the bike section, but we all got to sit together, thanks to a woman giving up her seat when she realized we were a family. Bless her. The seats were not comfortable, so we quickly came back down from our posh superiority.

Peasants, once again

Train from Milan to Bergamo

We had to take two taxis to our place by the Milan/Bergamo Airport, and then after arriving, finding our room, and dropping off our bags, we went for a walk to find food. 

Brian hitching a ride with Michael on the way to find dinner, Bergamo

Walking around Bergamo

The initial restaurant we were trying to find was closed, but our wandering led us to a World War I and II monument, and not too long after that, a small grocery store with a tiny deli. We explored their limited options and then got three sandwiches for the boys, and some meat, potatoes, and peppers for the girls that the workers heated up for us [thanks to the help of Google Translate!]. 

Monument to those who fought for Italy during World War I and II

We had a lovely stroll back to the apartment. There was no traffic, and there was a boy out riding his bike. It was a quiet little neighborhood, and we were sad we were only there for the night. 

Rachel practicing her ballet

Our apartment in Bergamo, Italy

After our interesting dinner, we headed to bed, later than we wanted, especially considering our early flight coming up the next morning.