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Muslim visitors to Florence may detect something familiar under the Renaissance gilding. Walking the narrow alleyways bounded by tall walls and bridged by arches calls to mind the medinas of Islamic cities such as Marrakech and Damascus. The high-walled palazzos harbor courtyards and inner gardens with fragrant flowers, tall trees and tinkling fountains like traditional houses found in the Middle East and North Africa. And the city’s skyline is pierced not just by the great dome and campanile of the Duomo, but by bell towers that bear an uncanny resemblance to minarets. Muslim visitors to Florence may detect something familiar under the Renaissance gilding. Walking the narrow alleyways bounded by tall walls and bridged by arches calls to mind the medinas of Islamic cities such as Marrakech and Damascus. The high-walled palazzos harbor courtyards and inner gardens with fragrant flowers, tall trees and tinkling fountains like traditional houses found in the Middle East and North Africa. And the city’s skyline is pierced not just by the great dome and campanile of the Duomo, but by bell towers that bear an uncanny resemblance to minarets. Perhaps the greatest connection with the Islamic world comes with the achievements of Brunelleschi, the architect and engineer whose construction of the great dome of the Duomo drew on Muslim sources. Scholars have identified the mausoleum of Oljeitu in Soltanyeh in Iran as bearing the blueprint that Brunelleschi followed. The Soltanyeh mausoleum was built between 1304- 1313, predating the Duomo’s dome by 150 years. Brunelleschi’s use of the double dome and herringbone pattern of brickwork within is the first instance in Europe - but can be found in great mosques of the Muslim world. San Miniato al Monte is another Florentine jewel of a church that stands in the hills to the south of the city, giving panoramic views across town. This 11th-century church is filled with intricate marble work - the inlaid patterns that cover the floor and the walls around the carved marble pulpit are geometric in design and employ arabesques and floral motifs so beloved of Islamic art. It is impossible to stand in this church and not see its influence. Although Florence herself has no direct links with the Muslim world, successful Florentine merchants exploited all new markets - including Jerusalem and, after the fall of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire. Slaves and spices picked up on trade routes were sold in Florence because of its and proximity to Pisa, a maritime city state that both traded and warred with the Near East. The Crusades brought Muslim influence to Europe, the presence of Moorish Spain, and the cross-fertilization of styles that was happening in Venice. Florence was yet another hub for the melding of ideas. http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/islamic_influence_in_florence/