•The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was the major church in Florence in the Renaissance period, but it was a building which was largely built in the fourteenth century (thus pre-dating the Renaissance). •The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile.•The cathedral named in honor of Santa Maria del Fiore is a vast Gothic structure built on the site of the 7th century church of Santa Reparata, the remains of which can be seen in the crypt.

•Florence was a Roman Catholic wealthy medieval city on account of its textile trade, and Florentines of this time thought of themselves as a city similar to that of ancient Rome.•The campanile (bell tower), which was designed by Giotto in 1334, has an imposing height which indicates that the church oversees the residents, government buildings and marketplaces.

Prominently Lit at Night to demonstrate the grandeur and importance.

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•The Marketplace and residential buildings can be seen from the top of the campanile and is right next to the Cathedral. •The primary mode of transportation was pedestrian and/or “horse and buggy” so they lived worshipped and worked in the city center. •The built environment/context was appropriately matching indicating a zoning ordinance where the surrounding exteriors rooflines/terra-cotta tiles, windows and colors matched.•Row houses built to withstand the climate and for cost of land near the Basilica

Surrounding Environment: Piazza del Duomo, a place of gathering and commerce.

Surrounding Environment: Centrally located Baptistery dedicated to Saint John

•Built as a basilica, having a wide central nave of four square bays, with an aisle on either side. The chancel and transepts are of identical polygonal plan, separated by two smaller polygonal chapels. The whole plan forms a Latin cross. The nave and aisles are separated by wide pointed Gothic arches resting on composite piers.•The dimensions of the building are enormous: length 502 ft, width 124 ft, width at the crossing is 295 ft. The height of the arches in the aisles is 75 ft. Height of the dome is 376 ft.

•Heroic Architects: In 1296, Arnolfo di Cambio was hired as the first architect to design the 4th grandest church in the region, accommodating 30,000 people. •Di Cambio was revered as a Heroic Architect and a sculpture was dedicated to his heroic design and placed on the exterior of the building.

Heroic Architects: Statue of Filippo Brunelleschi found to the right of the cathedral. •The statue looks up towards the Pantheon inspired cupola (Dome), to eternally show him contemplating his masterpiece.•The Dome: The conical dome dominates the exterior, was added in the 15th century, had a conical roof and was crowned with a gilt copper ball and cross, containing holy relics, by Verrocchio in 1469.•The copper ball was struck by lightning on 17 July 1600 and fell down and was replaced by an even larger one two years later.•It was re-enforced with a set of four internal horizontal stone and iron chains, serving as barrel hoops, embedded within the inner dome.

•The exterior has sacred geometric patterning of its revetment (face), made from encrusted decorative mix of pink, white and green marble and brick with rose windows containing tracery disposed in a radial manner. •Facades in Italy were considered to be lesser in importance and was later added during the nineteenth century.

Interior Sacred Paintings: A scene of Giudizio Universale, or Last Judgment, by Giorgio Vasari painted on the inside of the cathedral dome (1572-9).

•Larger Bays, a ribbed groin vault, and large arches providing more opening between its nave and side aisles, thus making the side aisles shallow. When the interior was designed, the use of buttresses was forbidden in Florence, as the style was favored by central Italy's traditional enemies to the north.•The long, prominent molding above the arches, gives emphasis in this church on horizontal elements, different from that of the cathedrals of Germany and France which were built with emphasis on their vertical elements. Contains Corinthian columns and rounded arches. •Designed with smaller stained glass windows, shows a willingness to leave blank spaces on the walls of the cathedral.

Interior: • Are “stark and plain” but quite enjoyable on warm summer days since the temperature inside tends to be cooler. •The geometric design is carried into the interior mosaic pavement and focus visitors into the public meeting area.