Milan Sightseeing
Admiral Hotel
ClassHotel 4 star
Area Fiera Milano City
HotelThe Admiral Hotel was created in 1972 by the carburetor genius: cav. Luigi Dell'Orto...
The Duomo Cathedral and the Madonnina
One of the most imposing and magnificient religious buildings in Europe, this gothic style Cathedral was built largely between 1366 and 1485.
Works went on slowly: erected on behalf of Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo on the site of the 9th Century basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Cathedral was completed only five centuries later.
The building is adorned with 135 marble spires and 2,245 marble statues. The oldest part is the apse. Its three colossal bays of curving and counter-curved tracery, especially the bay adorning the exterior of the stained-glass windows, should not be missed. At the end of the southern transept down the right aisle lies the tomb of Gian Giacomo Medici. The tomb owes some of its design to Michelangelo but was executed by Leone Leoni in th 1560th and is generally considered to be his masterpiece. The so-called Madonnina, located on the topmost spire, become symbol of the city, is covered with 3.900 sheets of gold leaves. A panoramic external lift transports the visitor to the rooftop terraces, allowing the most extraordinary promenade amidst the spires, and exceptional views of the city, the Po valley and the mountains in the distance.
Piazza del Duomo 14, PHONE: 02/860358; COST: €6, €7 including ticket for the Duomo's elevator; OPEN: Daily 10-1:15 and 3-6;
Metro: Duomo.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of the most beautiful attractions in Milan, was built between 1865 and 1877 on the design of architect Giuseppe Mengoni. The Gallery contains the most exclusive shop windows and it is famous for its extravagant boutiques and elegant cafes. Very expensive but extremely chic Vittorio Emanueles Gallery is open 24 hours a day. It has been recently closed to pigeons as their droppings were having a detrimental effect on its marvellous facades.
The Gallery leads to the famous Theatre designed by Piermarini, to the homonym square and to Palazzo Marino, seat of the Town Council. Turning left you will find Via Mercanti and the characteristic square of the same name.
Like all American suburban Malls, the Gallery fulfills several social functions: half way between the Duomo and the Scala Theatre it is usually called il Salotto (the Living Room) inviting to sit at one of its tables and enjoy a ridiculously overpriced coffee. All kind of items such as books, records, clothing, food, wine, pens, jewelry are sold in the Gallery.
Castello Sforzesco
Following the pedestrian district of Via Dante you will reach the spectacular Piazza Cairoli with the impressive pile of the Castello Sforzesco in the middle. One of the most impressive Renaissance buildings, the Castello Sforzesco was first built in the 14th Century by Gian Galeazzo II Visconti. Extended and improved under his successors with the help of the architect Filippo Brunelleschi it was completely reconstructed under Francesco Sforza, the soldier who took possession of the stronghold after the fall of the Republic. First conceived as a military stronghold, it was gradually transformed into an architecturally impressive noble residence, designed on a rectangular plan with massive corner towers and fantastic battlements. The main entrance is enhanced by a tower built in 1901-4 to replace the original attributed to the fifteenth-century architect Filarete which collapsed in 1521.
The inner area is divided into three courtyards: the first and largest, used as the Piazza d'Armi, leads to the Renaissance-style Cortile della Rocchetta, on the left and to the Corte Ducale, on the right.
It now houses a Pinacoteca, an important Museo di Scultura where Michelangelo's Piet Rondanini is preserved, the Museo Egizio and the Biblioteca Trivulziana.
Teatro alla Scala
If you visit Milan you would certainly be impressed by the sober and neo-classical Teatro alla Scala, the world-famous temple lying on the north-west side of the homonym square. The distinctive name of the theatre, choosen by the architect Piermarini, suggests that it was built on the site of a fourteenth century church, Santa Maria della Scala, on behalf of Beatrice della Scala, Bernab Visconti's wife. Throughout the centuries it has hosted many premières of famous composers such as Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, Donizzetti, Mascagni and Puccini. Devastated by several bombings during World War II and faithfully reconstructed thanks to the funds tenaciuosly raised by Arturo Toscanini, it was reopened in 1946, with the stage playing of Rossini's La Gazza Ladra. Closed again in 2002 for long-overdue renovations, it was officially completed in December 2004.
Nowadays a première in this theatre constitutes a unique occasion both for opera lovers and for the fashionable set. The season traditionally opens on December 7th, St. Ambrose festival. More similar to a cathedral than to an auditorium, you don't need to know opera to sense it.
In the Museo Teatrale alla Scala you can admire librettos, posters, costumes, instruments, and design sketches for the theatre, curtains, and viewing box decorations, along with an explanation of the reconstruction project and several interactive exhibits. A highlight is the collection of antique gramophones and phonographs.
Telephone number: 02/4691249 or visit www.teatroallascala.org; COST: €5; OPEN: Daily 9-6; last admission at 5:15;
Metro: Duomo or Cordusio.
Leonardo's Last Supper - Santa Maria delle Grazie
In the refectory of the old Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie you will admire one of the greatest and most celebrated frescoes of all time: Leonardo's Last Supper (1495/1498). Illustrating the scene in which Jesus reveals to the Apostles his awareness of the future betrayal of one of them, the frescoes had an unbelievable history of bad luck and neglect. Almost destructed in an American bombing during World War II, its misadventures include even being whitewashed over by monks. Well-meant but disastrous attempts of restoration have done little to rectify the problem of the work's placement, executed on a wall too vulnerable to climatic dampness. Moreover, Leonardo chose to work slowly and patiently in oil pigments, which demanded dry plaster, instead of proceeding hastily on wet plaster according to the conventional fresco technique.
Although Leonardo's carefully preserved preparatory sketches in which the apostles were clearly labeled by name, there still remain some small debates about a few identities in the final arrangement. But there can be no mistake in recognising Judas, small and dark, his hand calmly reaching forward to the bread, isolated from the terrible confusion that has taken the hearts of the others.
Don't miss a visit to Santa Maria delle Grazie itself, a handsome church with a fine dome, added by Bramante along with a cloister in the late 15th Century. Both Bramante and Leonardo were hired to decorate and remodel the refectory and church of a comparatively modest religious order only because the Church should have been turned into the Sforza family mausoleum. The ambitious plan remained largely unrealized because of the defeat of Ludovico il Moro, seventh duke of Milan, only two years after Leonardo finished The Last Supper.
COST: Reservations are required to view the work; call several days ahead for weekday visits and several weeks in advance for a weekend visit. The reservations office is open 9 AM-6 PM weekdays and 9 AM-2 PM on Saturday. Viewings are in 15-minute slots.
€6.50 plus € 1.50 reservation fee. OPEN: Tues.-Sun. 8:00 am - 7:30 pm, last entry 6:45 pm.
Metro: Cadorna.
Sant'Ambrogio
Born from a noble Roman family around 340 AD in the administrative centre of Gaul, Saint Ambrogio spent his childhood and early adolescence in Rome, where he acquired the profound cultural education which was to make him one of the most prolific Christian writers of antiquity. The progress of his career in the Imperial administration brought him to Sirmio in the Balkan peninsula, and thence to Milan, which governed the region of Emilia-Liguria including almost the whole of northern Italy. As a consul, with tasks of a predominantly legal nature, he visited various parts of the region: he travelled extensively in Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Lodi, Novara, Pavia, Vercelli, Torino, Bologna, Faenza, Forl, Imola, Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Reggio. Its extensive knowledge made him the ideal candidate to take in hand the life of the local Christian community. In his role of Bishop of Milan, Ambrose extended his competence, his commitment and his activities to the areas which he had previously served in his role of imperial consul.
Ambrose believed in the rights of every man, and struggled against all forms of social discrimination. His rebuke to the capitalists of the time is still valid today: "the earth was created for the common good of all, for the rich and for the poor: why do you rich men claim exclusive rights over the land? Nature, through which we all come naked into the world, does not recognise rich men...Naked we return to the earth which naked bore us."