Anecdotally, we weren’t there to see cathedrals except that we knew we wanted to see St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Our first stay was in Florence Italy about thirty steps from the very large piazza in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce. Italians like their piazzas, which are big public spaces. On a lark, we paid the perhaps $10 to go inside the Basilica and we were stunned. I probably took a hundred pictures of the statues and paintings and features of this church. After that, we could not stop experiencing the cathedrals. The crucifix in the Basilica of Santa Croce is a wooden carving by Donatello. Same guy who carved this iconic Penitent Magdalene, also out of wood. Seeing it was emotional, for me.
