Submitted by Samantha La Scala on the 2024 Winter ENGL program in Italy…
It can be intimidating to travel to an extremely religious country as someone who isn’t big on religion. I do have some background on the subject, learning about different religions through global classes and history classes in high school, but I don’t come from a religious household. There were some nerves surrounding my willingness to explore churches abroad, especially in Italy, but all those nerves have since dissipated.
In Florence where I have been studying, and in Siena where we have been on a day trip, churches are more about the art than they are about the religion. In Florence, my class took a guided tour of the Santa Croce, and it was one of the most interesting tours I have taken of any museum or gallery. Our tour guide, Isabella, spent some time outside of the building educating our group on some of the city’s rich history. We discussed what Florence was known for, some famous figures, and the importance of the Medici family. This set a strong foundation for the sights and history we were about to see.
Walking into the Santa Croce was overwhelming, there was art on the floors, every wall, and the most ornate altar I had ever seen. We saw the tombs on the floor and learned how people paid exorbitant amounts of money to be buried there, and that they were buried vertically to save space. We also saw tombs of many famed Italians, such as Michaelangelo, Galileo, Dante Aligheri, and Machiavelli. There were so many intricate details that Isabella pointed out that I would have never noticed on my own, like the three mourning women on Michelangelo’s tomb representing sculpture, painting, and architecture.
Isabella did an excellent job at relating the stories back to the facts given before the tour, giving interesting stories on all the historical figures we were looking at, and did a great job at making the tour conversational rather than being a lecture. This was engaging to me, as we focused on the art and the history of the people and the city, rather than the religion. Another church we toured was the Duomo di Siena. This was another stunning feat of architecture, even more full of art than the Santa Croce. Everywhere you looked there was something new to learn about. Our guide for the day, Marta, was extremely knowledgeable, but the tour felt more like a lecture than a conversation. I found myself staring into space and admiring the art, rather than hearing about it. However, the focus of the lecture was history, how all of these beautiful works came to be, rather than religion.
So, if you were on the fence about touring churches while abroad, it’s a great way to learn about history and appreciate stunning art. If you know the stories behind the works, it can add an additional layer of meaning, but you won’t be missing out if not! (Submitted on January 20, 2024)