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Italy, Florence: Florence’s Bronze Doors to the Gates of Paradise

Florence’s Baptistry of the Duomo is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors which have relief sculptures. The south doors were created by Andrea Pisano, and the north and east doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti.

It was Michelangelo who gave the East doors their fame, calling them “the Gates of Paradise”. The 17-foot-tall gilded doors, weighing 4 1/2 tons, are casts of the original doors created in Ghiberti’s 15th-century workshop.

The Italian poet Dante Alighieri and many other notable Renaissance figures, including members of the Medici family, were baptized in this baptistry.

Austria, Salzburg: “Sound of Music” Fountain

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The Residence Square, where you can find this baroque fountain, is the heart of the old city center of Salzburg, Austria. In the film, “The Sound of Music”, Maria (played by Julie Andrews) walked across the square singing “I Have Confidence” while on her way to the Trapp family home for the first time.

Residence Fountain at 15 metres high is the largest baroque fountain outside of Italy. It was built between 1658 and 1661, and enjoyed its 15 minutes of fame when Maria stopped there to splash water at the horses while singing “I Have Confidence”. The song was not from the original Broadway show but added for the film version. I would remember this as I saw the Broadway show 13 times as my Dad worked there.