“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

So the Siena Cathedral is getting its own blog post.  This was another one of the sites that we didn't have in the itinerary, but by this point, Raja was fully obsessed with "duomos," so in we went.  The fact that I took about 120 photos in this one structure, while after about 45 minutes Raja resorted to waiting patiently (sometimes patiently) for me by the door, reveals the fact that I couldn't have been happier with his newfound love of cathedrals. He may have ended up regretting that same love, but it all resulted in a slew of photos and a blog post dedicated solely to this medieval church, Cathedrale di Santa Maria. Everyone wins.... yey! :)

As soon as we stepped inside, the view was breathtaking and almost dizzying. The stripes from the belltower (pictured above) carry over into the interior, with columns and walls made of alternating black and white marble stripes.

The church also offers several valuable pieces of art, including The Feast of Herod by Donatello, and works by Bernini and the young Michaelangelo.  The horizontal moulding around the nave and the presbytery contains 172 plaster busts of popes dating from the 15th and 16th centuries.

 

The coffers garnered my attention immediately, as they're this gorgeous bright blue color studded with golden stars. We later learned that this was an art technique used commonly in the 15th century, involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions. The hexagonal dome is topped with Bernini's gilded lantern, like a golden sun.

All in all, the interior truly feels like another world, and you can feel the history of the builders, artisans, sculptures, designers, and painters who worked to create, expand, and later restore this marble treasury of Gothic art.

Finally, I put my camera away, took one last look around without being behind the lens, and gathered Raja from the entrance of the cathedral. We headed out into Siena, Raja ready to see what was next, and I grateful for his fascination with being a "uomo in duomo" for the 4th time since the start of our trip.

GPS Coordinates for Cathedrale di Santa Maria: 43.317759° N, 11.32905° E