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The cathedral is covered in the inside and outside with white and greenish-black marble. It is basically a late Romanesque building: started in the late 12th Century, cathedral, vaults and choir were finished around 1260. The choir was enlarged in the 1320s. Afterwards a reconstruction was planned that would have made the existing church to the transept of a giant new building. The plan was abandoned in 1355 after the great plague. Instead the height of the nave was increased and a new vault was built.
The most outstanding pieces of art are the pulpit by Nicolo Pisano, the marble floor and the Piccolomini Chapel.
The floor of the whole church consists of intricate marble inlays (1369-1562), designed by many different artists. Large parts of it are almost always covered, during the panorama shots too.
Parts of the pulpit by Nicolo Pisano can be seen on the left when looking to the choir. It was finished in 1267. The octagonal pulpit rests on nine pillars, some of which stand on lions, which are tiny visible. Outstanding are the reliefs of the balustrade with eight themes from the life of Jesus.
The upper wall of the choir is dominated by glass windows designed by Duccio (1287).
Wikipedia: here
The panorama shots were taken handheld in low light
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La Toscana, una delle regioni italiane più ricche sia dal punto di vista paesaggistico che da quello storico-artistico, si trova nell'Italia centrale e confina con l'Emilia Romagna (Nord), le Marche e l'Umbria (Est) e il Lazio (Sud). Ad Ovest la costa è bagnata nella zona settentrionale dal Mar Ligure ed in quella meridionale dal mar Tirreno e troviamo le isole che formano l'arcipelago toscano fra cui l'Isola d'Elba. Il capoluogo della regione è Firenze e le altre provincie sono: Arezzo, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Massa, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato e Siena.
