In Florence, I felt the urge to climb up another tall building and settled for the Dome at the Duomo Complex in Florence. 463 twisting, turning stairs to the top! Plus, it is a true engineering marvel designed by Brunelleschi, the first dome of its sort since the Pantheon in Rome. The dome is on top of the church Santa Maria del Fiore, the main building of which was started in 1296, but the structural part of the dome was not completed until 1446. The church was the largest of its time, seating 30,000 people, which was roughly a third the population of Florence. 
Although the church was complete by the late 1300, various efforts to build the dome were unsuccessful until Filippo Brunelleschi was commissioned by the Silk Merchants Guild (of which the Medici were members) to complete it. Brunelleschi, known to be a temperamental artist, had stormed off to Rome ten years prior when he did not receive solo commission for the baptistery doors at the same complex. In Rome, he became inspired by classical art and architecture, and was particularly intrigued by the Pantheon, which prompted Brunelleschi to devise his own method to construct a dome, involving inner and outer shells. The painting on the inside of the dome was commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici, and is a depiction of the Last Judgement.
Although the church was complete by the late 1300, various efforts to build the dome were unsuccessful until Filippo Brunelleschi was commissioned by the Silk Merchants Guild (of which the Medici were members) to complete it. Brunelleschi, known to be a temperamental artist, had stormed off to Rome ten years prior when he did not receive solo commission for the baptistery doors at the same complex. In Rome, he became inspired by classical art and architecture, and was particularly intrigued by the Pantheon, which prompted Brunelleschi to devise his own method to construct a dome, involving inner and outer shells. The painting on the inside of the dome was commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici, and is a depiction of the Last Judgement.The view at the top was amazing, and because I decided to go just before closing, there were hardly any people there. I kept thinking that I was going up the wrong stairs (there were a fair few dead ends) because it was so deserted. The climb was disorienting because it was like climbing through the attic of a house under a sloped roof. This 
effect has been used historically, by Trajan (a Roman emperor) whose column contained a tight, narrow, and dark staircase intended to disorient climbers, who would emerge to a statue of himself framed by blinding sunlight at the top. The same idea seemed to have been applied here and I certainly felt surprised to arrive at the top when I did. But the view was spectacular, all of Florence laid out before me, somehow distant yet close at the same time, with only the curves of the dome to connect me to the ground. The untamed building of Florence were transformed into neatly bound neighborhoods with a single step. And the silence, so absolute, both in the mind and space.
effect has been used historically, by Trajan (a Roman emperor) whose column contained a tight, narrow, and dark staircase intended to disorient climbers, who would emerge to a statue of himself framed by blinding sunlight at the top. The same idea seemed to have been applied here and I certainly felt surprised to arrive at the top when I did. But the view was spectacular, all of Florence laid out before me, somehow distant yet close at the same time, with only the curves of the dome to connect me to the ground. The untamed building of Florence were transformed into neatly bound neighborhoods with a single step. And the silence, so absolute, both in the mind and space.
(view towards Santa Croce)
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