Venice and Pisa, Italy

      "I don't know where I am going but I'm on my way"

Venice : 

 Imagine the audacity of building marble palaces on a city of lagoons. The romantic city of Venice is the capital of Northern Italy's Veneto region. It was originally built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic sea. Built on mud, sand and slime, the city has stood for centuries with palaces and churches, having a treasure of art and sculpture. 

The communication in the city is by cris-crossed waterways and canals. It has no roads, just the canals. The biggest canal is the Grand Canal. Various bridges are seen sitting across the innumerable canals. The most beautiful and famous bridge is the Rialto Bridge which is the oldest one, standing over the Grand Canal. The bridge has been rebuilt many times over the years.

The Grand Canal is the S-shaped main canal and is lined by 50 palazzi and six churches. The St Mark's basilica is at the end of canal. A gondola ride in the waterways is an experience by itself with the expert Gondolier wearing blue or red striped shirt and having long oars, rowing it under numerous bridges with elan. Most of the gondoliers descend from a family of gondoliers and follow the family occupation.

Walking the numerous lanes of Venice and getting lost is an experience by itself. Tiny signage written in Italian are the only help in finding the way out. Shops in some of the lanes give a good bargain to tourists.

A visit to nearby Murano glass factory is an added attraction, showcasing the famous Murano glass works including super grand chandeliers with intricate designs.

                                          Grand Canal

Pisa :

Pisa is an Italian city in the Tuscany region and is well known all over the world for its iconic Leaning Tower. The 185 feet (56 metre)  tower when completed  in 1372 was already tilting. The tower is actually the bell tower of the adjacent cathederal in the Piazza dei Miracoli. The tower is constructed with white marble. The uneven settling of its foundation became noticeable when three of its eight stories had been completed. At that time a war broke out and the constructed was halted for almost a century. This gave ample time for the foundation to settle and likely prevented its early collapse. When construction resumed an effort was made to compensate for the lean by making the new stories slightly taller on the short side, but the extra weight caused the structure to sink still further. After many interruptions, the tower was ultimately completed in 1372.

In 20th century, as the structure was still subsiding and was in danger of collapse, it was closed to public in 1990. The engineers then undertook a major straightening project which caused some straightening of its tilt and the tower was reopened in May 2001. Engineers now expect the tower to remain stable for at least 200 years. Present tilt is now 3.97 degrees while the worst tilt it got was 5.5 degrees.

Baptistery : Another noticeable building in the complex is the rounded beauty of San Giovani Baptistery. This marble giant is almost as tall as the leaning tower. At 55 meters it is in fact the largest Baptistery in Italy. It has a circumference of more than 100 meters. It is famous for its acoustics.

                                          

Leaning tower of Pisa

                                                           

                                  San Giovani Baptistry

                                                             

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Cartoon - india beats Australia at Gabba, Brisbane

India has beaten Australia in the fourth test at Gabba, Brisbane. The Australians have not lost a test match at Gabba for 32 years. Hats off to the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, who marshalled his resources well and who was ably and superlatively supported by the young cricketers, who created some incredible and indelible memories. Indian fans could not have asked for more. A take at the cricketing slaughter in Gabba abbatoir.

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Cartoon - India beats Australia 2020-21

 Inexperienced Indian Team has beaten the much experienced and much hyped Australian Team to win the " Gavaskar Border Trophy" in the current test series 2020-2021. Rising from the doldrums when team India was bundled out for 36 runs at Adelaide and going on to win the series has been a stupendous task. An anlaogy with pole vault is attempted. A take at the same.

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Florence Cathedral - The story of the largest masonry dome in world

          "Create with the heart, Build with the mind"

Florence cathedral or Duomo, known locally as Santa Maria del Fiori had its humble beginnings in the year 1292. The construction began in the gothic style with pointed arches and vaulted ceilings. The cathedral had been started in order to showcase the status of Florence as one of Europe's economic and cultural capitals. It was later decided that the cathedral would be embellished with a dome, the size of which would be more than any other ever built. 

The cathedral had been expanded from its original design and was functional for about 125 years without any cover over the  place, where the high altar should have been. As a result the rainy water would enter the inside of the cathedral season after season.  

Ultimately in 1418 the town fathers of Florence finally decided to address this issue. The reason for this delay was the fact that nobody had an idea how to build a dome which would have to begin upwards on an octagonal frame already in position 180 feet high. Importantly  the dome would have to be 150 feet across. One thing was clear in the minds of town fathers that design would have nothing to do with the typical Gothic style consisting of flying buttresses and pointed arches, the one followed by Milan, Florence's archenemy. As luck would have it, these were the only solutions available at the time. The question of availability of timber for scaffolding and the question whether the dome of masonry would not collapse inwards by thousands of tons of weight was weighing heavily on everyone's mind.

In 1418 the fathers of Florence decided to hold a contest to build the dome with a prize of 200 gold florins. The contest resulted in production of many ideas, some funny and some interesting but foolish, to solve the problem.

 An interesting and innovative solution was offered by a goldsmith and not an architect, that he would build two domes, one nestled inside the other, without the need for elaborate and extensive scaffolding. As the goldsmith Fillipo Brunelleschi was secretive lest his idea be stolen, he would not divulge the details of his construction plans. After much discussions and having experienced his design of a brass door 15 years ago, the fathers of Florence knew his ingenuity and hence the project was ultimately given to him.

His dome would consist of two concentric shells, an inner one visible from within the cathedral nestled inside a wider, taller dome. To counteract the outward bulging pressure created by the structure's weight he would bind the walls with tension rings of stone, iron and wood like hoops on a barrel

The project took 16 years to  complete. Brunelleschi was lucky enough to see the completed dome in his life time with utmost satisfaction. His double shell design yielded a structure that was far lighter and loftier than a solid dome. He wove regular courses of HERRINGBONE pattern brickwork, little known before his time into the texture of cupola, giving the entire structure additional solidity.

 He was also the one to innovate the design of pulleys and levers and was the first to introduce reverse gear, which would lift up and down the heavy construction material with the help of two bullocks, moving all day in one circular motion.

On march 25, 1436 Pope Eugenius IV consecrated the finished cathedral to tolling of bells and cheering by Florintines. A decade later another group laid the decorative marble lantern on top of the dome as a crown.

Brunelleschi was a very secretive person and left no maps, drawing or any notes of his construction plans or progress. As a result the exact detail of how such a large dome was built, still remains shrouded in mystery. Till date, even after 600 years of its existence, this dome remains the largest dome of masonry ever built.

 The climb to the top is by using the steps of the staircase between the two layers of the dome. This staircase was originally built for workers to go up and down to the level of construction. The climb is only one metre wide and is quite claustrophobic and there are 464 steps to the top and base of lantern.

                              The dome of Florence Cathedral

                                            Florence cathedral with dome in the backdrop

         Cathedral of Florence - Santa Maria del Fiori

                     

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Cartoon -Twitter dumps Trump

Twitter has permanently disabled the handle of US president Donald Trump after he incited his supporters to attack the Capitol Hill. A take on the same.

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Florence - Italy

                " Wherever you go, go with all your heart"

Florence is a beautiful city, bathed in architectural beauty, artistic charm and centuries of history. It is the capital of Tuscany region as well as its cultural capital. It is home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. The small historic city can be travelled on foot. We took a walking tour which covered many historical sites.

Duomo, the cathedral is the identifying land mark of the city. Its construction started in 1296 in the Gothic style. The exterior of the cathedral is faced with marble panels of various shades of green, pink and white. 

The dome of this cathedral has an interesting story. The walls of the cathedral below the would be dome had been built in an octagonal manner. The technology at the time for building a dome 150 feet wide and which was to start at 180 feet above the ground was non-existent. A competition was held with the prize of 200 gold florins and eternal fame. The project by a Goldsmith and not an architect was approved and given a go ahead. His name was Filippo Brunelleschi. The dome was constructed without any scaffolding, in the shape of a double dome, one inner and one outer with regular courses of herring bone brickwork. and the dome was held in place by binding the walls with a string of stone, iron and wood so that it would not collapse or crack under its immense weight. It remains till date the biggest brick dome ever constructed. The dome took 16 years to complete and was completed in 1436. Today one can go up the dome by climbing an extremely narrow space of about 3 feet between the two walls of the dome and there are about 464 steps and is hence quite claustrophobic. Not recommended for those with claustrophobia and fear of heights.

                                                           

                                                 The Duomo with its dome in the backdrop

Ufizzi Gallery :

The Uffizi Gallery is  a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence. The gallery occupies the whole of first and second floors of a large building constructed between 1560-1580 and designed by Giorgio Vasari. It is famous worldwide for its outstanding collection of paintings and ancient sculptures. The masterpiece paintings of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raffaell and Caravaggio are the main attractions.

Piazza della Signoria is the Historic Centre of Florence. Just outside the palace is the copy of the statue of David by Leonardo Da Vinci, the original being in a museum nearby.

The famous "Ponte Vecchio" meaning "Old Bridge" with rows of shops of jewellery, art and souvenirs, on the Arno river is also nearby.

                                                   Piazza della signoria - the Historic Centre

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Cartoon USA Capitol Hill Mob Attack

 Outgoing US president Donald Trump provoked the mob of his supporters to walk towards the Capitol Hill, the venue of joint Congress which was going to confirm Joe Biden's victory and his subsequent taking over as 46th President of the United States on 20th of January 2021. Inspite of the violent mob attacking the Capitol Hill, the Congress later gathered again to confirm Joe Biden's victory. A take on the same.

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Cartoon Saurav Ganguly & Kapil Dev

 Cricketer Saurav Ganguly suffered heart attack and underwent primary Angioplasty. Cricketer Kapil Dev also had suffered heart attack in October 2020 and had undergone Angioplasty. If such players who undergo rigorous physical activity suffer heart attacks, then what about ordinary mortals who sweat it out in gyms or on treadmills at home. A take on the same.

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