Archives and Piazza Duomo

The field trip today was very different than what I had expected. I had absolutely no idea we were going to be able to go into the archives and experience what was documented hundreds of years ago. I was fascinated by the notes that told of the visits to different churches around Italy and how specific all the details were. I was also thinking about the fact that someone had written down every single birth, death, marriage, baptism, etc. and then I realized that we do the same. However, with our advanced technology it is easier than creating parchment and going from there. It is interesting to look at how the documentation has changed over time but also stayed the same because it is something we still do today, nine hundred years later.

I have walked through Piazza Duomo many times in the past two weeks but I hadn't really taken the time to just look at the buildings. Even though I had noticed the carvings up the bell tower and at the front of the cathedral, I had no idea they told a story from the beginning of time. I thought the golden doors were the most beautiful though because of how detailed they were. Even though they are a replica, every little millimeter cut out seems like it was done perfectly.

When we ended the day with the visit to the Church of St. Michael I was fascinated by its beauty. My favorite part was the fact that it had been a market before becoming a church. Usually when I think of a church I think it was built just to be a church but that area had been a market before. I was also intrigued by the separation inside between the men and women. The difference between alters was astonishing because the one on the right (the men's side) was so elaborate compared to the one on the left (the women's side). I did enjoy the change in perspective however, where if you are facing the pews as opposed to the altar, the women are on the right and the men are on the left.