As per the common pattern, the hilltop town of Orvieto Italy has a large “duomo” on a central square. As is also typical, the facade of this church is packed with remarkable visual features — statuary, columns and arches, and fascinating details like this twisting column. Much of it is high enough that it can only be seen at a distance, but this bit is right for eye-level viewing.
You can read about these places and look at pictures of them for years (as I, a late-in-life traveler, did) and not really understand the effect of their physical reality. In particular, if you imagine them in the times when they were first created you start to understand how astonishing and even magical they must have been (and still are). It is remarkable that those who produced a structure that depends so much on massive scale for its effect also had the energy to attend to such tiny details with so much precision.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
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