Archives and Piazza Duomo

Archives and Piazza Duomo

The field trip today was extremely interesting and very different than I had expected. I had absolutely no idea that we would be able to physically enter the archives and actually view the documents within the archives, documents which date back hundreds of years ago. I was fascinated by the notes that explained the visits to various churches all over Italy; in addition to all of the specific details. One detail in particular that I found particularly fascinating was that someone had recorded; by hand, every single birth, death, marriage, baptism, etc. Today, we do something similar; however, with in recent introduction of modern technology, keeping this record has gotten much easier, rather than using parchment, etc. 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.

Since I have been in Florence this semester, I have traveled through Piazza del Duomo various times; however, I had not actually taken the time to stop & appreciate the beauty of the buildings; specifically, the carvings on the bell tower in addition to the carvings front of the cathedral, I had no idea each carving had a story to tell, dating back to the beginning of time. The details on the Golden Doors were magnificent. Even though the doors were a replica, and not the original done, each intricate detail was executed perfectly without fault.

To conclude our visit to Piazza del Duomo, we went to the Church of St. Michael. The beauty of the cathedral was extremely intriguing. The part that I found most interesting was that before becoming a church, it was a marketplace. Another aspect that I found fascinating while in the church was the separation between the men and women. This separation was extremely fascinating due to the fact that on the right or the male side was much more elaborate when compared to the female side, to the left. This trip was extremely enjoyable the change in perspective on the archives as they pertain to my view on Christianity.