Soltaniyeh and Santa Maria del Fiore: A historic relationship?

Abstract

As one of the earliest human innovations in the architecture of shells, the dome has undergone many changes. This article examines the theory of the Florence Cathedral's(Santa Maria del Fiore) inspiration from the Soltaniyeh Dome of Zanjan. The methodology employed in this research is comparative-descriptive using reliable historical and library sources. A comparative-historical study of 13 domes in Iran(Iranian plateau) and 13 domes in Italy(Eastern Rome Empire) over 2,000 years has examined the evolution of Iranian and Italian domes in terms of construction time and shape. In the next step, the sources that architectural experts have discussed the influence of the dome of Soltaniyeh in Zanjan on the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore have been reviewed. The influence of the golden age of Islam and the achievements of Muslim scholars on the European renaissance in mathematics and geometry has also been explored. The structural similarities, proportions and forms of these two domes show impressive results. It seems that according to historical sources and comparative studies conducted in this study, the dome of Soltaniyeh has a direct impact on the construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, and the theory first proposed by Professor Sanpaolesi (1972) is conclusive.