Duomo and Baptistery

       The Duomo is absolutely amazing. The outside of the building is as impressive as anything one may see throughout the globe. The front façade of the Duomo is perfectly designed and immaculately kept. The statues that fill up the most of the façade are beautifully built and perfectly maintained. The sheer size of the Duomo makes it easy to see through the entire city of Florence, letting people know that the shrine to Jesus Christ is the de facto center of town. However, even though the inside of the Duomo, also known as the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, is still beautiful, it was surprisingly quite plain and bare. The similar cathedrals that I have visited throughout my travels, such as the churches in Siena and Assisi, are decorated to the nines in its interior. Even though Giorgio Vasari’s Last Judgment in a masterpiece art, the cathedrals in Siena and Assisi have many more beautiful works of art than the Duomo.
       The Baptistery of St John is equally as beautiful on the outside of the Duomo. However, “somewhat” unlike the Duomo the interior of the Baptistery is also immaculately designed with all sorts of gold statues and gorgeous paintings.  Yet, the true treasure of the Baptistery lies on the building’s front doors. The “Gates of Paradise,” as Michelangelo named them, were built by Lorenzo Ghiberti. These golden doors have twenty-eight different panels on them, with each panel showing a different story of Christ in the New Testament. Overall, both the Duomo and the Baptistery were spectacular. However, I believe that the baptistery is kind of a hidden treasure that must not be missed on anyone’s trip to Florence.