Il Duomo

The Duomo is a MASSIVE medieval cathedral in Florence that is famous for its huge dome. It was built by famous Renaissance architects. You can actually climb up in the dome but we didn't do it because it cost eight euro and we wanted to go see other things.

We did go downstairs into the crypt, which houses excavations of the prior early basilica, on top of which the Duomo was built. The interesting thing about buildings in these Italian cities is that they just built new buildings on top of old ones. So a lot of medieval churches will be built on top of an old basilica, which itself was often built on top of old Roman ruins. We even went in one where the old church had been built on top of a pagan temple!

These old churches and/or their excavations also often house relics, usually some sort of physical remains of a Catholic saint. The skull you see is in a reliquary (the name for the box) in the crypt of the Duomo.