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La Cupola di Michelangelo e le Scale Senza Fine
Michelangelo's Dome and the Never-Ending Stairs
by Claudia
Worksheet
It was a very hot August day - faceva molto caldo - when I visited St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, Rome. It was so refreshing to enter the cool air of the huge church.
It is the largest church in the world! In Italian, we call it la Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano, Roma.
The dome - la cupola - of St. Peter's Basilica is very big and high.
It was designed by the famous artist Michelangelo.
I presumed I would just be looking up at the dome from ground level. But no! There is a hidden staircase that takes you all the way up to the top. So, I decided to go!
Let's go! Andiamo!!!
A man - un signore - asked if I wanted to take the lift. I replied 'No, grazie.'
I've always been a very fast runner and good at sport. I didn't need the lift. So, I started to sprint up the winding staircase.
'È facile!' 'This is easy,' I thought.
I kept climbing and climbing the winding staircase, going round in big circles. In my head, I was singing:
Giro giro tondo, gira il mondo....
But, the stairs seemed to go on forever, in a never-ending spiral! Una spirale senza fine!
I felt dizzy - ero stordita - so I slowed down.
About half an hour later, the stairs came to an end and I was very pleased. Ero contentissima.
'Sono arrivata!' I've arrived!
A view of the dome, from inside, looking up.
Oh no! Unfortunately, this was just a half-way point. Mamma mia! The stairs continued.......and they became narrower and narrower. The ceiling became lower and lower. It was very cramped and uncomfortable.
I could hardly breathe! No wonder that there are emergency buttons everywhere. I thought that I might have to press a button and be rescued. I was feeling very faint.
