While the main structure of the Florence Cathedral are medieval, its remarkable dome and much of the art decorating its façade, baptistry and bell tower define this first century of the Renaissance.

The Duomo — that’s Italian for cathedral — is huge — the largest anywhere when finished in the 15th century and still in the top 20. The church’s claim to fame is its dome — the first of the Renaissance and the first great dome built in Europe in over a thousand years. The church was built in Gothic times but rather than being capped by another spire, it was left with a gaping hole waiting for technology to catch up with the city's vision. In 1420, Filippo Brunelleschi won the job and built the dome that kicked off the architectural Renaissance.

Brunelleschi's dome — which inspired those that follow from the Vatican to the US Capitol — showed how art and science could be combined to make beauty. And today, it rewards those who climb to the top with a grand Florence view.

While the Duomo's architecture and statues are impressive, the baptistery, across from the Cathedral, is centuries older. The Baptistery is separate because in medieval times you couldn’t enter the church until you were baptized. Its interior glitters with Byzantine-style mosaics created in the 13th century, long before the Renaissance. These vivid scenes, bringing countless Bible stories to life, inspired the medieval faithful.

Jesus sits at the center of it all, overlooking creation on Judgment Day. He gives the ultimate thumbs up…and thumbs down. On his right, Angel Gabriel blows his trumpet bringing good news to the saved… and on the thumbs down side…well, you don’t want to go there.

Some say the Renaissance began in 1401 over the excitement caused by a city-wide competition to design and build new doors for the Baptistery. Lorenzo Ghiberti won the commsion and spent decades on this project.

These bronze panels, Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise,” were revolutionary in their realism. By utilizing the mathamatical laws of perspective, Ghiberti helped give the art world a whole new dimension — depth. He pulled out all the stops to create maximum three-dimensionality: The tiles have lines which converge to a vanishing point. This bench is fore-shortened to exentuate its depth. Elements are added to establish a foreground distinct from the middle and the back ground. The effect? As viewers we become part of the scene.