Elsien's Traveblogue

Florence, Sunday 8th February 2009

Decided I'd have an easy day as I'd knackered myself yesterday and the day before. Did some of the studying for my OU course which had got a little lost in the frantic activity of discovering Florence. Then thought Sunday would be a good day for religion, so went to the Duomo for Mass – arrived a little late, but was still there for a good 40 minutes, savouring the atmosphere the Medici and countless artists after 1450 must have found when going to church. The cathedral itself is a little empty, most of the artworks have been put in the museum behind, but the ceiling frescoes of the inside of the dome are still there – crowded but impressive, done by old Vasari who is responsible for large parts of Florence. I also contemplated poor Brunelleschi's trials ans tribulations in getting the Dome built – re-read Vasari this morning before going.
This afternoon I went to have a look at the Jewish counterparts. They also suffered here in Florence, banished to a ghetto under Cosimo de Medici who was hoping for the title of Grand-duke of Tuscany from the Pope (didn't get it) and then the Jews more or less languished in this ghetto until the Unification of Italy and the need to reorganise the centre of Rome. There are now only a few (a thousand or so) Jews in Florence, with only one – splendid, though – synagogue.
Hoping to be able to put all this on my blog-space today!