A room with an incredible view...
Bed and breakfast is a newly opened, exclusive bed and breakfast
for women only located at the top floor (no lift - 68 steps) of a
historical palace in the center of Florence, Italy.
With a stunning view of Brunelleschi's Cupola of the
Duomo, it overlooks a quiet inner garden and is only minutes away from
the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Santa Croce, the Accademia, the main train
station and air terminal.
Bed and breakfast has four double rooms all overlooking the
garden, three with a view of the Duomo. There are two bathrooms, and two
rooms have washing facilities as well.
The apartment has just been nicely renovated. We have
put in parquet floors, and furnished the rooms with all wood beds, three
with natural latex mattresses and one with a raised futon.
There is a kitchen/breakfast room where Paola will
provide an expanded continental breakfast and attend to special food
requirements.
Brunelleschi's Cupola:
Brunelleschi's Cupola is the symbol of Florence and the
whole of Tuscany. It is considered as revolutionary Renaissance
architecture.
The cupola is seen in our picture above. The
construction of the cupola was one of the most challenging efforts
during the Renaissance period.
Florentines debated and competed for years to make the
cupola but it was finally completed by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The Cathedral or Duomo:
The Cathedral or Duomo of Florence, on which
Brunelleschi's Cupola sits, was the end result of years of work that
spanned six centuries of history.
The general design of the Cathedral was designed and
created by Arnolfo di Cambio at the end of the 13th century. The cupola
was designed, as mentioned, by Filippo Brunelleschi.
The Lantern:
Two years after the great cupola, or the "Cupolone"
as the Florentines call it, was finished in 1434, the lantern was placed
in position (taking it from 91 to 114½ meters in total height).
The lantern had its decorations finished in 1446, when
the great architect was on his deathbed. The finishing touches included
the application of the decorations in the lantern (1461) and the
positioning of the great copper sphere on the top (1474).
Cast in Verrocchio's workshop and raised with the aid of
a machine that was built with the help of Leonardo da Vinci, the ball
fell off after being struck by lightning on July 17th, 1600, and was
replaced two years later by a larger one. A marble plaque commemorating
the event is still visible on the paving in the square behind the
Cathedral.
