Day 7. Santa Maria de Fiore, Tales from the crypt, the San Marco Museum and a grand finale at the Accademia museum!

Saturday June 15th, 2013. Day 7 in Florence started with a visit to the Cathedral Santa Maria de Fiore and the Duomo. Inside, we were greeted by wonderful frescoes on the walls and the ceiling inside of the Duomo. Many sculptures which have inspired the Christian faith were abundant inside of the cathedral. Next, we walked down to the underground crypt. The floors show original mosaics and the slabs which covered each tomb were beautiful examples of relief sculpture. After visiting the cathedral, we moved on to the San Marco museum. The San Marco is a very old building that used to be a convent/monastery. Most of the little rooms where the monks used to live have frescoes on the walls by the beloved painter " Fra Angelico" who was a monk himself. As you walk up the stairs, you are welcomed to the second floor by one of the world's most famous frescoes, Fra Angelico's "the Annunciation". Mrs. Orendorff almost fainted at first sight of this marvelous fresco. Moving through the second floor of the museum, we encountered a large room where the monks used to hand write and illustrate the first bibles. After this wonderful treat, we went on to the Accademia museum. Yes, that is where Michealngelo's famous sculpture of David is housed! There were also hundreds of plaster and marble sculptures. The Accademia is full of very important works of art which include sculptures, paintings, antique music instruments, icons, and frescoes. Our day ended with dinner in the Piazza Della Signoria and a procession of medieval characters. Before retiring for the night, we paid a visit to Florence's famous "Il Porcellino" (boar sculpture). The tradition since 1766 is that one must rub its nose with a coin and drop it into the grate below for good luck and to ensure a return visit to Florence!