NOVA Season 41 Episode 15 Synopsis

The dome that crowns Florence's great cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore-the Duomo-is a towering masterpiece of Renaissance ingenuity and an enduring source of mystery. Still the largest masonry dome on earth after more than six centuries, it is taller than the Statue of Liberty and weighs as much as an average cruise ship. Historians and engineers have long debated how its secretive architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, managed to keep the dome perfectly aligned and symmetrical as the sides rose and converged toward the center, 40 stories above the cathedral floor. His laborers toiled without scaffolding or safety net, applying novel, untried methods. Over 4 million bricks might collapse at any moment-and we still don't understand how Brunelleschi prevented it. To test the latest theories, a team of U.S. master bricklayers will help build a unique experimental model Duomo using period tools and techniques. Will it stay intact during the final precarious stages of closing over the top of the dome?

NOVA Season 41 Episodes...

• s41e01 - Ground Zero Supertower
• s41e02 - Megastorm Aftermath
• s41e03 - Making Stuff Faster
• s41e04 - Making Stuff Wilder
• s41e05 - Making Stuff Colder
• s41e06 - Making Stuff Safer
• s41e07 - Cold Case JFK
• s41e08 - At the Edge of Space
• s41e09 - Asteroid: Doomsday or Payday?
• s41e10 - Alien Planets Revealed
• s41e11 - Zeppelin Terror Attack
• s41e12 - Killer Typhoon
• s41e13 - Ghosts of Murdered Kings
• s41e14 - Roman Catacomb Mystery
• s41e15 - Great Cathedral Mystery
• s41e16 - Wild Predator Invasion
• s41e17 - Inside Animal Minds: Bird Genius
• s41e18 - Inside Animal Minds: Dogs & Super Senses
• s41e19 - Inside Animal Minds: Who's the Smartest?
• s41e20 - Why Sharks Attack
• s41e21 - Escape From Nazi Alcatraz
• s41e22 - D-Day's Sunken Secrets

NOVA Show Summary

Seen in more than 100 countries, NOVA is the most watched science based television series in the world and the most watched documentary series on PBS. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won many major television awards, most of them many times over.