The Lightning Strike of 1601
On the night between January 26 and 27, 1601 (1600 according to the Florentine calendar), a violent thunderstorm struck Florence. A lightning bolt hit the gilded copper ball at the pinnacle of the dome of Florence’s Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore), causing it to crash to the ground near the apse in what is now Piazza delle Pallottole.
The ball, made of copper and covered in gold leaf, weighed 18 quintals (approximately 1,800 kilograms) and had a diameter of 2.38 meters. It was crafted in 1468 by Andrea di Michele di Francesco di Cione, famously known as Andrea del Verrocchio. It was placed atop the dome on May 27, 1472, followed by the cross on May 30. The dramatic installation of the ball is detailed in the Diario Fiorentino by Luca Landucci, a pharmacist and chronicler of Florence’s events at the time.
When the ball fell from a height of 114.36 meters (the total height from the top of the cross to the ground), it also brought down various architectural elements, including marble, bricks, and stones. Miraculously, no one was harmed. The thunderous crash was so loud that many Florentines, undeterred by the ongoing storm, rushed into the streets to see what had happened.
The event is also described by the 17th-century historian Fernando Leopoldo del Migliore in one of his diaries:
“A lightning bolt struck at five o’clock in the night, with great noise and damage: the ball and the cross fell to the ground, along with countless pieces of marble, which were so violently shattered that they rolled halfway down Via de’ Servi.”
This dramatic event is a vivid reminder of the unpredictable power of nature and the enduring history of Florence’s architectural masterpieces.
