by Flavia Atzeni
Tourist guide
A tour of the Duomo
The reaction of the foreign tourists When I accompany tourists visiting
Florence to see the Cathedral, they are always amazed by the marbles,
the statues and the majesty of its architecture. Apart from Giotto's Belltower,
they are always wildly enthusiastic about the facade, in spite of the
fact that it is the most recent part of the building. It really is very
beautiful, apart from being the fourth largest church in Europe. When
they enter the Cathedral they usually seem to be left at a loss for words.
After having been dazzled by the variety of coloured marbles outside,
they are almost assaulted by the darkness and the harsh severity of the
interior compared to the exterior. Some people even compare it with the
simplicity of the Protestant churches.However every nationality reacts
in its own way. The Israelians are obviously fascinated by anything connected
with the Old Testament. They are extremely well informed and have great
pride in their cultural roots. As a rule, they are particularly struck
by the fifteenth century clock with its face painted by Paolo Uccello.
This clock in fact covers a 24 hour period, starting at sunset, as in
the Jewish culture. A visitor from India, after having noticed a winged
devil with a dark skin, pointed it out to me with some displeasure, saying
that a dark skin represents evil in our culture.
Tourists in P.zza Duomo (Foto FAN)
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As a rule, the Japanese do not show their feelings and so it is rare to
see them particularly impressed by something. They usually ask for the
most incredible details. One day a Japanese tourist, to whom I had only
just finished explaining the various measurements of the cupola (the internal
and external diameter, the height, weight, etc), wanted even more and
even asked me for the height of the steps up to Giotto's Belltower. They
all seem to have a real mania about dates and measurements. However when
I tell them all about the cupola they are often stirred, like everyone
else. The French seem to be somewhat envious of the richness and variety
of Italian monuments and tend to act as though they are our superiors;
their main interest in the Cathedral seems to be finding out who paid
for all the work. The Germans are very similar to the Japanese and we
say that we can carry straight on from the former to the latter because
they are usually so well informed. Nowadays a great many tourists come
from eastern Europe and they are always full of interest and curiosity.
As soon as the Americans see the Cathedral, they are always full of enthusiasm,
which they express with plenty of "WOW"s, though at times they
can make some really dreadful faux pas. One day an American tourist asked
me whether the Cathedral was the Opera House, and another, when he saw
Giotto's Belltower, asked me if it was the Tower of Pisa.
See also: A birthday to conclude a
millennium The cupola, masterpiece of
Brunelleschi The machines used for the
construction of the cupola That strange
clock by Paolo Uccello Programme of the
main cultural events
FAN-Florence ART News
by Silvia Messeri
& Sandro Pintus
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