Sunday, October 22, 2017

The gates of heaven

It felt like there were fewer tourists overall in Siena than in Florence, but they were more heavily concentrated, due to the much smaller size and because there is really one pre-eminent tourist attraction to visit - the cathedral and its associated sites, so everyone was funnelled in there together.




We were no exceptions to this rule, and went for the full-on cathedral experience with all the bells and whistles, starting with the "Gates of Heaven" tour, which takes you into the rafters to see the cathedral from above.


The amazing floor mosaics are best enjoyed from above!




By the time we had finished the tour, it had started to fill up quite a bit in the cathedral below. Of course, it would be great to see it in peace and quiet, but it's hard to detract from such a beautiful building. Just the black and white columns alone are stunning.


Mosaic of Siena at the centre of Italian cities (not sure why they get Romulus and Remus)













Busts of the popes line the ceiling 





We had a full day of duomo and duomo-related activities, but I think that's enough for one post!

2 comments:

  1. It's cool that you both enjoy going to cathedrals!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an amazing cathedral. (And I agree with I Say Oui!)

    ReplyDelete

Feed the Comment Monster! Rawrrrr

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.