RonnieAdventures: October 2025

Picture by Kolohe

A statue of General Manfredo Fani is located in Piazza San Marco in front of the Basilica San Marco, Florence, Italy. General Fani is known as the founder of the Royal Italian Army.

The Basilica San Marco houses the relics of St Antoninus of Florence is also located in the Piazza San Marco. This is the location of the tomb of Pico Della Mirandola, who is known as the "Father of Humanism."

Picture by Kolohe

We walked past the Lorenzo Chapel and Basilica di San Lorenzo and admired the artworks in front of the buildings, but did not go inside.

Picture by Kolohe

All of the streets around Piazza Del Mercato Centrale Florence are filled with street vendors, so this is a popular stop for tourists. We did not spend a lot of time shopping, but people who like to shop could spend all day here and not visit all of the vendors.

We did not find anything that we really needed from the street vendors, but we did go into a large multi-story building called Mercato Centrale. The building was built in 1874 and is now a destination where "locals and tourists come to experience the best of Tuscan food, culture, and creativity. With over 20 food stalls run by passionate artisans, it's the perfect spot for anyone wondering where to eat in Florence...Mercato Centrale is more than just a place to eat - it's a place to explore, connect, and taste something unforgettable." We tried various types of foods that were on display. My favorite was the pizza.

Picture by Kolohe

We really wanted to climb to the top of the dome at Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral) and to the top of Campanile di Giott (Grottos's Campinella), but unfortunately, we did not purchase advanced tickets before we left home. But fortunately, after a lot of negotiations, we were able to secure two tickets for each climb. Ashley and I ended up getting the dome tickets, while Kolohe and Sophia got the Campanile tickets.

The Florence Cathedral's octagonal-shaped dome is 52 m (171 ft) tall, and made from over 4 million bricks that weigh 37,000 tons. It was designed by Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi in 1418, and construction started in 1420. Brunelleschi was one of the founding fathers of Renaissance architecture and the first person to receive a patent in the Western world. The dome is still the largest masonry dome in the world.

As soon as we entered the building, located by the staircase were "Statues of the holy bishops Podium, Zenobius and Andrea Corsini, Pietro Francavilla and Annibale Marchissi (1589)." The lower steps appear to be of fairly recent construction.

Picture by Kolohe

Partway up the climb, from a balcony we could look down at the Cathedral floor and up at the paintings on the inside of the dome.

There is a second higher balcony where we were much closer to the paintings.

From a viewing area on the outside of the dome, we had great views of Florence and the adjacent Giotto's Campanile that Kolohe and Sophia were climbing. We kept watching for them, but could not see them from where we were on the dome. We later learned that they had to stand in a long line before they could make the climb, and they were about 20 minutes late starting. However, they did see us and took our picture just as we were leaving the outside of the dome. In the second picture, the building with the green roof is Mercato Centrale, and the dome is Basilica di San Lorenzo.

Construction started on Giotto's Campanile (Bell Tower) in 1334 and was finished in 1359. The tower is 84.7 m (278 ft) high and made using red, white, and green marble.