June 24 - Go straight to the center of of the old city in the morning. It is another day promising to be variably rainy and cool. This is fine with us, as I was expecting sweltering humidity at this time of year.
First stop is Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle), a towering building just west of Piazza Castello. This complex forms the core of the old city. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remains of previous fortifications dating back to the Romans. It was enlarged and modified several times, the latest episode in the late 1800s.
There are several museums here, all of which are closed today. We go out across the moat on the northwestern side and into the extensive park (Parco Sempione), where the rain has thinned out the tourists a bit.
Napoleon left his mark here. Ironically, having partially destroyed the castle during his occupation, he built a ‘Arch of Peace’ at the northern end of the park (Porta Sempione).
From here, retrace our steps to the south and look for lunch.
The umbrella sellers are out in force, it doesn’t take much to fill a market niche here. See a lot of business being done to groups of instagram style queens in flashy dresses, huddled in doorways and looking distraught.
Eat at another great local restaurant, also catch it just before afternoon closing. On to the big cheese, the Duomo di Milano.
The longer title of this structure is: Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan. It took six centuries to complete, and is the largest church in Italy (and third largest in the world).
The history of the construction of the cathedral is long and complicated, with struggles over engineering, style, and purpose. Exclusive, tax-exempt access to a particular marble quarry helped the project obtain good building materials. The Sforzas were only one of the several powerful families that funded it at one time or another. Even Napoleon pitched in by continuing the work under the premise that the French government would pay (they never did). It was only slightly damaged during WWII.
One of the biggest continuing projects is the constant cleaning the facing marble requires, due to pollution. I did not photograph much of the scaffolding, but there is plenty, and may prove to be up a long time given the city’s limited budget for this work.
Our tickets include a walk on the roof of the cathedral (using the stairway). To access this feature, we have to leave the place altogether and go to an entrance on the side of the building. Thankfully it is not a tight spiral staircase, but wide stairs rising in a square. I am quite impressed with the roof, as it is all in marble. The expense of carving and installing all these marble pieces is an amazing feat.
Back down a different set of stairs and across the plaza to the Palazzo Reale di Milano, where the Museum of the Duomo is housed. Much of the content is statues that were commissioned for the Duomo by many artists over the centuries. Many of them are prototypes in wood, plaster, or stone.
Fun fact: The Virgin Mary (Madonnina) is meant to be the highest thing in Milan. So, when modern buildings began exceeding the Duomo’s height, they had to place Madonna statues on top.
We do a bit more wandering around, though it is already 18:00 and we’ve put in about 10 km of walking.
Back to the apartment.