Florence, Fall 2018 ~ Read
I highly recommend reading Brunelleschi’s Dome by Ross King before arriving in Florence. This national bestseller about the design and construction of Florence’s main jewel, cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, immerses the reader in 14th-15th century life in the city, its citizens, customs, and its brilliant, courageous, irreverent artists, architects and statesmen.
My favorite passages in the book included a scene where cathedral construction workers sat high atop the scaffolding in the summer winds drinking wine for lunch; descriptions of the processes involved with casting of the bronze doors of the Baptistry; and scenes of daily life of the citizens of the Florentine Republic.
Bronze doors of the Baptistry 
Santa Maria del Fiore 
The bell tower
