The Cathedral of Florence

I really became interested in the Cathedral of Florence after reading about it in Fleming and learning more about it in class. I decided to do a little bit of research on the this cathedral, and I found some discoveries made in 1960s and 1970s about the history of Florence's Cathedral. In 1965 and 1974, there were excavation campaigns that uncovered remains of Santa Reparata, which was the Roman church that existed on the site of the Cathedral between the 5th and 13th centuries. The excavations led to the finding of a large mosaic.This mosaic was located in the left nave and shows North African influence because Syrian merchants traveled to Florence, bringing North African culture. The mosaic includes Christian symbols like crosses and goblets.

Here are some pictures of the excavated floor remains from Santa Reparata: