Antonio Ramblés travels

The Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) is the city’s cathedral and the home church of its archbishop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is Italy’s largest, Europe’s third largest, and the world’ 5th-largest church.

 

 

The Duomo occupies what was the center of the ancient Roman city, but its construction did not begin until 1386.

 

 

The signature “Madonnina’s spire”, which rises to more than 300 feet, was not erected until nearly 400 years after construction was begun.

 

 

Given Milan’s damp and foggy climate, the Milanese consider it a fair-weather day when the Madonnina is not obscured by mist.

 

 

 

The Duomo’s facade was not added until its completion was ordered by Napoleon Bonaparte, who was crowned King of Italy there.

 

The last details of the cathedral were finished only in 1965.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many Milanese, reminded by the centuries needed to complete the Duomo, use the  term “Fabbrica del Duomo” – built like the Duomo – as an adjective to describe an extremely long, complex task.

 

The Duomo’s rooftop is open to the public, and is reached by an elevator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Architectural detail invisible from the street below suddenly becomes full sized, and statues, gargoyles, and spires tower over roofwalkers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The effect of pollution on the Duomo requires diligent maintenance, and officials recently announced a campaign to raise funds for its preservation that asks patrons to adopt the building’s gargoyles.

 

 

 

 

 

Donors who contribute €100,000 or more can now have their name engraved under one of the grotesque figures perched on the cathedral’s rooftop.

 

 

There can be a stiff breeze up here, and from this vantage point the skyscrapers of modern Milano tower in the distance. On a clear day, the Alps are visible on the horizon.

 

As I walk the rooftop, I can’t help but be reminded that the weight of this building rests on columns and arches made of interlocking stones without any structural steel.  It seems a gravity-defying feat.

 

“10 Days In Italy” has now gone full circle, and it’s time to depart from Milan’s airport with a long list of more to see “the next time.”

And for anyone who’s been here, the fondest wish is that there will always be a next time.

 

See these earlier posts from “10 Days In Italy”

• Milan to Verona by autostrada

• Channeling Venice

• Venice’s Piazza San Marco

• Venice’s backstreets

• Padua walkabout

• Unexpected Ferrara

• Appetite for Bologna

• Fabulous Florence

• Florences’ Pitti Palace & Boboli Gardens

• Parma’s palate

• Understated Milano