In 1420, Filippo Brunelleschi was tasked with building a dome to sit on top of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, Italy.  This task was a great challenge because construction required that the dome be built without any central support system, like scaffolding, or exterior buttresses. Domes up to this point were constructed as half circles, but this dome had to be 8 sided and taller and wider than any dome built to date. There are several theories as to exactly how Brunelleschi constructed this dome, but we will never know for sure because he left no record of his methods.  However, we do know that he created a hoist system, powered by ox, to lift materials to the top and that he laid the brickwork in a herringbone pattern to help support itself. It was completed in 1436, 16 years later, and it remains the largest masonry dome in the world.

The revolutionary design and engineering that went into this dome, coupled with the fact that he had no formal architecture training, is why I find it so interesting and why I set out to visit it during my travels in Italy.  Knowing the history of the dome beforehand made seeing the dome in person an overwhelming experience. The dome was full of complexities yet Brunelleschi found a way to make it possible and that is inspiring. The cathedral’s location, Florence, also holds great meaning to me, as it is where my wife and I were when we found out we were expecting. So, despite it being an architectural marvel, I will always remember it fondly for that reason.

I explained the history of the dome to my wife as we climbed the 414 steps up the adjacent bell tower to get a birds-eye view of the dome. She was 5 weeks pregnant at the time, but the trip up was even exhausting for me. It is possible to climb up the dome itself but tickets for that sell out weeks in advance so we weren’t able to experience the interior of the dome’s construction up close, unfortunately. But seeing the exterior of the dome from the ground and above, was still such a fascinating experience. All I could do was marvel at the dome when looking at it from above, in the bell tower.