Santa Maria Del Fiore Near and Far

scale of church compared to Firenze
Detail of Rib and Tower
Santa Maria Del Fiore began as a more humble structure.The original structure was designed on the same site as a response to other Italian churches, Santa Reparata was eventually crumbling with age at a time when Firenze also needed to enlarge the Cathedral. After 9 centuries, Santa Reparata was replace in the lat 13 century with the design by Di Cambio. When completed it was only surpassed in size by St. Peter's. Brunelleschi and Giotto completed the more iconic aspects of the church. Brunelleschi with his massive, innovative dome, and Giotto with the delicate tower. The duomo represents the brilliance of Brunelleschi and is still considered a feat of engineering.