Chiesa di Santa Croce

So today was the day devoted to Art and Architecture. We had class this morning at 11. But before that, I had breakfast, twice, and then sat and read until class. I know, not very lively but not every moment can be youtube quality. So class time comes and we learn about more things: Franciscan and Dominican orders, the different types of art: Mechanical and Liberal, the difference between churches in Egyptian cross form and Greek cross form, various styles of paintings and then more about the different periods of art. Whew, that's a lot of information to take in in only an hour and a half. This is a 3 credit course that is supposed to be an hour in the classroom and an hour at the site. We spend an hour and a half in the classroom and 2+ hours at the site. I think we should petition that this class be upped to 4 credits, but, alas, I doubt it would happen.

We then had a about a hour down time before we had to make our way into Florence, past the Duomo, and to the Chiesa di Santa Croce, or the Church of the Holy Cross. OMG!!! This basilica is so gorgeous. It is considered the Pantheon of Florence, is the largest Franciscan church in Italy, and was built in the Gothic style, Egyptian Cross form. Now, the difference between the Egyptian cross and Greek cross form is that the Egyptian cross has a long part and a short cross part, sort of like the letter 't.' The Greek cross more closely resembles the '+' sign. Anyway, the inside of the basilica is beyond belief. I cannot even begin to describe it as it is so overwhelming. We saw some frescoes of St. Francis painted by Giotto as well as an altar piece of St. Francis built by Bonaventura. Names I have to know for class and you can look up if you want, otherwise ignore them. I'll post the pictures of took of the Basilica as soon as I'm able to.

The Chiesa di Santa Croce is also the place where Dante has a tomb, although he is not really buried there. But, both Michelangelo and Galileo are buried in Santa Croce and have beautiful tombs in the main part of the church. I also took pictures of these so just be patient and you will see.

We then moved on to the Museum attached to the Basilica. We first went by a chapel that Brunelleschi built for the Pazzi family. The chapel has a dome that represents the twelve apostles with a window at the very apex representing God. We also passed the Cloister of the monks who originally lived there. Then we went into the museum. OHHHHH, was it breathtaking to see all these works of art; great and beautiful works of art all in one place. I took a ton of pictures so you can get some understanding of what I saw today. I was in awe the entire time, seriously.

Right outside the church, in the piazza, there was set up a chocolate fair. Dozens of tents filled with chocolaty goodness and samples for those attending the fair. We all went through a few times, trying little bites here and there. Oh, was it good to have really good chocolate. I've been craving it lately so it was very nice to have some.

We ate at La Reggia again tonight. Etrusca is Sunday and Monday. La Reggia is Wednesday through Friday. Anyway, our first course of pasta was on the spicy side, but still very good. The second course was this great salad and veal. Yup, that's right. I was served veal for dinner. I tried it but to me it tasted like bland beef. I really had no flavor that I could taste. For dessert we had chocolate and strawberry gelato. Very good. Mmmmmmmm.

All in all, today was another great day in Italy. I cannot wait for tomorrow as we will be traveling to nearby Lucca. Bob is going to give us one of his famous tours and then we get the day to explore. I'm looking forward to it. Ciao.