Milano Cathedral

As promised.....after our visit to th pasticceria Bastianello we had a tour for the inside of the Milano Cathedral. Our tour guide was from the Viator company, we have used them before in Barcelona and Firenze and both times we were very happy. We met our small group of 6 outside the cathedral and then we managed to skip the que and had our 1 hour guide through the cathedral. I thought it was very interesting....

Here are some interesting facts:

• the construction of the cathedral started in 1386 and it took almost 600 years for the completion. The completion was in 1965
• It is the second largest cathedral, after the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, in Italy.
• It is the third largest cathedral in the world, after St Peter's Basilica and Seville in Spain.
• It has 52 pillars...one for every week of the year.
• They say there are more statues on this gothic-style cathedral than any other building in the world. There are 3,400 statues, 135 gargoyles and 700 figures that decorate Milan Duomo.
• Near the main entrance you’ll see a sundial on the floor. A ray of sunlight from a hole on the opposite wall strikes the clock, shining the bronze tongue on June 21, the summer solstice, and the meridian on the winter solstice, December 21.
• Above the apse (the arched part above the altar) there is a spot marked with a red lightbulb. This marks the spot where one of the nails of Jesus’ crucifixion was allegedly placed. Every year on the Saturday closest to September 14 the archbishop of Milan ascends to the apex in a wooden basket.
• The original building started in terracotta stone, once the grandeur of the project was realized Condoglian marble from Lake Maggiore was chosen.
• At the left of the altar is the famous statue of Saint Barholomew Flayed, it is a statue that has the skin removed, in fact the saint shows his flayed skin thrown over his shoulder like a stole.

View from the side

View from the front

View from the entrance

Contrast of llight (refurbished/ clean marble) vs the old

The beautiful floors

Saint Bartholomew

So yes, we thought it was an interesting tour...and Sofia...sleeping the entire time....just a princess. After that we had a break for 2hrs before we had pur roof top tour....so we bumbed around a little...looked at the opera (i was not impressed) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II..let me share some pics...

Entrance to the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II

Close up of the entrance

After exploring a little....time for our roof top tour of the cathedral. The views werre incredible and i loved being able to walk on the actual roof top.....time to share some pics....

Looking up at the cathedral

One of the many statues

Sofia and me on the roof top

At the top

The famous golden Madonnina

Let me share some facts and details about the Madonnina statue....it is the statue of the Virgin Mary. It was erected in 1762 at the height of 108.5m. By tradition, no building in Milan is higher than the Madonnina. When Gio Ponti’s Pirelli Building was being built in the late 1950s, at a height of 127.1 m, a smaller replica of the Madonnina was placed atop the Pirelli building, so the new Madonnina remains the tallest point in Milan. In 2010 another replica was placed as well on the top of the Palazzo Lombardia, at a height of 161 m, being then the tallest building in the city....interesting...no?

Have a look at this interesting apartment building we could see....

Bosco apartments

Towering over the city skyline, these are the world's first forest in the sky apartments, complete with a living space that is also your garden. With trees equal to one hectare of forest spanning 27 floors, these 365 and 260-foot emerald, twin towers will be home to an astonishing 730 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 11,000....strange...and interesting.

Anyway....enough facts....we loved our sight-seeing in Milano....Sofia was a busy bee on the roof top and sight-seeing has become more difficult with a baby...hahaha....after our roof top tour we strolled the city a bit and then found a small, cosy restaurant near our hotel where we enjoyed some dinner....kim wanted a traditional Milanese schnitzel but unfortunately they did not have that....i ended up having a beef tartar and kim the tagliate di manzo with roasted vegetables. The food was delicious and the service was spectacular, also how they were with Sofia just amazing. Let me share some pics....

Tartar

Tagliate

The name of the place was TentoTen (Italian street Food), C.so di Porta Romana 54...moving on, right now we are in fact on the way to join my husband on the cruise ship....Sofia is turning 1 and we all want to be together to celebrate. So....enough about Milano though....i will write a few more blogs about our short few days of vacation... which will include Lago Maggiore and Lago di Lugano. For now cheers....we chat soon.

 

 

 

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