The Day of Two Basilicas

Today has been a day for trying to take it easy, as we had nothing planned, but Firenze turned on a 38° day today, and apparently, according to my phone’s weather widget, will do so every day for the rest of the week, so it was a bit of a trudge doing anything. But trudge we did, and do things, we did.

It ended up being the day of two basilicas. Santa Trinita is a minor basilica built on the site of an earlier church of the 1000s. This second church, across the piazza from our front door, was built in the 1250s and belonged to an offshoot of the Benedictine Order, the Vallombrosans, a rather austere order of monks. Suffice to say that the Basilica of Santa Trinita is very old. It still has 14th century frescoes on its walls, many in disrepair, but many also, surviving to this day. Frescoes of course, are painted straight on to the plaster, so over time, when the plaster ultimately and inevitably begins to crumble and decay, there goes your precious fresco. Think Leonardo’s Last Supper in Milan.

We just poked out head into the basilica after a brekky in a small bar next door to us. It was wonderful. We breakfasted, paid our bill, then crossed the street to enter the basilica. It screamed ‘old’ as soon as you entered it. But it had a serenity and a beauty that I found enchanting and we stayed longer than we intended.

After the Santa Trinita, we decided to visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, the Dominican cathedral, because tomorrow Sunday, there would be Masses being said. It has the look of the Duomo, marble and tiles, and the same colour scheme, but not as large. We lined up in the sun and paid our money to get inside, which gave us access to the basilica, the cloisters, and the museum. The basilica was built from the 1240s.

I had an ambivalent emotional response to this basilica. It was very large on the inside, a vast vacant space in the nave as you first walk in; no pews or seats, just standing room. A large cross hung from the ceiling about three quarters of the way down the nave with multiple side chapels. A vast panel surrounding the front altar around which you could walk had floor to ceiling panels, painted frescoes, that were alive with colour and life.

We took our time in the basilica, even going into the shop where we purchased a few odds n ends, then took a slow walk around the cloisters, and a little of the museum. But by that time, we had had enough and felt the need to leave and get something cold to drink. We visited a local side street bar and partook in bruschetta and a beer each.

On the way home, we stopped off at the lavanderia to pick up our washing, only to find that were on a break until 3pm. This is quite common in Italy. It is called ‘pausa’, and is earlier than the Spanish siesta. It lasts for an hour or two and then businesses re-open until 6 and 7pm at night. We headed home, tired as we were. Don’t forget the heat. We rested and both had a nap too. Chris decided he wanted a walk so he went back and collected the washing.

This evening, we had a lovely pizza back in the Piazza della Republica, a different establishment this time, then a passeggiata until we found an up-market bar where we had another spritz.

Tomorrow will likewise be extremely hot, but we have nothing planned so we will take it easy and keep it limited to save our energy for some booked endeavours on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Two basilicas in one day. That’s gotta be some kind of record, doesn’t it?Read more