Getting the Lowdown on...
...Hidden Florence
9/22/20254 min read
The Duomo in Florence is a stunningly beautiful and complex building. But to appreciate the true quality of any church or cathedral, one has to go inside. Just a few minutes absorbing the atmosphere of this great edifice , I thought, would be enough, and so we planned to be there the moment that it opened the following day. Alas...that was a hopeless dream. We arrived ten minutes early . To say that we saw queues in front of us would be an understatement . People were queueing outside the entrance, and down the wide stone steps, sometimes four abreast. But it grew worse. We traced this queue back to where it ended, around the corner, along the street , around another corner and further still. At this point we gave up. My dream of spending a few solitary minutes under the soaring roof of this Cathedral had been shattered.
But all was not lost, for we had spent the previous evening in the company of our son, his Italian partner, and her sister who lives in Florence. She told us of a place to visit that was almost just as special, but where the crowds did not go. It felt good to dine amongst a group of people who spoke Italian and who knew best what food and wines to order, and for once we could hide our clumsy attempts at speaking this beautiful language. Now, at last we had the 'lowdown.' We knew exactly where to go. The next morning, after our failed attempt to see the interior of the Duomo, we went straight there.
Much to our surprise , the Convent of San Marco lay just across the busy square from the flat where we were staying, so we didn't have to go far. Crowds throng the Piazza San Marco daily, as they wait to board the busy trams that pass by. The moment we stepped inside this beautiful building however, the crowds vanished, and the busy hubbub stilled. We spotted no more than a dozen people strolling through the cool, dark refectories and cloisters of this early Renaissance building, which was constructed in the mid fifteenth century. At that time Fra Angelico was recruited with his helpers, to paint the walls , and we can still gaze upon these beautiful frescoes today. The thing that makes this museum so special, is that people can enjoy magnificent art in the very place where it was created.
However many similar religious scenes we had gazed on at the Uffizi, the previous day, these paintings felt very special. Sadly, the glorious blue that once adorned Fra Angelico's scene of the Crucifixion had faded, but we spotted a small group of art restorers painstakingly reviving the blue paint on another of his works.
As we strolled through yet another cool refectory, we were faced with this magnificent fresco of The Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio
But the excitement of strolling around the Convent San Marco grew even greater as we climbed the stone staircase to where the monks and friars lived in their small cells. These ran along both sides of two stone corridors. Every tiny room had a small window, and a fresco which had been painted by Fra Angelico. Strolling round this building with its cloisters, cells and dark refectories, really brought alive how peaceful life must have been for these monks. It was all such a contrast to the hectic twenty first century world outside these walls, and how grateful I feel for the 'lowdown' we were given.
Our visit to Florence was brief. The next morning we had a short journey to make. After that , there would be scarcely any more driving until we were back home in France. How could that be ? I will reveal all in my next blog.
But before we left Florence, our son gave us some advice. Why not stop at the Piazzale Michelangelo for one last view over Florence. That seemed a good idea. It would be good to view this fine Renaissance city from above, far removed from the crowds. Alas , how impossible a dream that was . As we drew up we spotted huge tourist buses disgorging passengers. Before us were yet more crowds, surrounded by vendors' stalls selling cheap tourist ephemera. We gritted our teeth , as I took one or two last photographs , and bade Florence a sad 'Adieu.'
