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Milano

The Duomo di Milano is one of the world's largest churches located in the center of Milan. Its white facade dominates the cathedral square and was not completed until the 19th century. The cathedral is decorated with over 3,000 statues, the most famous being the golden statue of the Madonnina. The Sforzesco Castle in Milan historically served as a symbol of power for rulers. It now houses civic museums and its courtyards feature frescoes, including one by Leonardo da Vinci. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is an impressive glass-roofed shopping arcade in Milan with patriotic mosaics and statues at its five-story interior.

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Crina Nicoleta Magher
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78 views5 pages

Milano

The Duomo di Milano is one of the world's largest churches located in the center of Milan. Its white facade dominates the cathedral square and was not completed until the 19th century. The cathedral is decorated with over 3,000 statues, the most famous being the golden statue of the Madonnina. The Sforzesco Castle in Milan historically served as a symbol of power for rulers. It now houses civic museums and its courtyards feature frescoes, including one by Leonardo da Vinci. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is an impressive glass-roofed shopping arcade in Milan with patriotic mosaics and statues at its five-story interior.

Uploaded by

Crina Nicoleta Magher
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Duomo di Milano, Milan's magnificent Gothic cathedral, is one of the world's largest

churches. Its dazzling white front facade, arguably the world's most beautiful, dominates the
cathedral square.

The Duomo is literally at the center of Milan. Streets radiate from the
cathedral or circle it. The cathedral occupies a site that has been the most
central location in the city since its founding.

It wasn't until the nineteenth century before the Duomo's most imposing
element, the front facade facing Piazza del Duomo, was completed. The
five bronze doorways also look a lot older than they actually are. The
central one is the oldest and was created in the nineteenth century by
Ludovico Pogliaghi. The other doors were created in the mid-twentieth
century; the fifth doorway is the most recent, and was created as recent as
in 1965. The panels on the doors depict episodes in the lives of the virgin
Mary, Saint Ambrose (patron of Milan) and Saint Charles Borromeo as well
as scenes from the history of Milan and the construction of the cathedral.
The Duomo is decorated with an amazing number of beautifully sculpted
statues and spires. There are more statues on this building than any other
in the world, 3159 in total. The most famous of all these is the Madonnina
(Little Madonna), a copper statue of the virgin Mary covered with 3900
pieces of gold leaf.

Sforzesco Castle

The Sforzesco Castle is one of Milan's most important landmarks.


It long served as a symbol of power for local and foreign rulers. At
the start of the early twentieth century the castle was saved from
demolition and now houses a number of civic museums.
The main entrance to the Sforzesco Castle leads through the castle's
tallest tower - the Torre del Filarete - to the Piazza d'Armi, an expansive
inner courtyard. Another tower, the Torre di Bona di Savoia, is visible from
the courtyard.

Behind this tower lies the heart of the castle with the palatial residences of
the Sforza dukes enclosing two smaller courtyards: the Cortile della
Rocchetta to the left and the Corte Ducale to the right.

The Rocchetta was the castle's stronghold and the last refuge in case of a
siege. During the reign of Ludovico Il Moro, the residences around the
courtyard were magnificently decorated with frescoes.

Cortila delle Roccheta


The Corte Ducale (Ducal Courtyard) has an elegant Renaissance design, with
a beautiful loggia, the Loggetta di Galeazzo Maria. Several rooms around the
Corte Ducale are decorated with magnificent frescoes from the fifteenth
century. The most famous is the fresco in the Sala delle Asse in the Falconiera
tower, created by none other than Leonardo da Vinci.

Sala Verde

Corte Ducale

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

The famed Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a magnificent shopping


arcade in Milan, covered with a glass and iron roof. The interior of
the impressive five story structure is decorated with patriotic
mosaics and statues.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is impressive if only for its dimensions:


formed like a Latin cross, its longer walkway measures 196 meters long
and the shorter one 105.5 meters (643 x 346 ft). The two iron and glass
covered walkways meet at an octagonal central piazza below a grand
forty-seven meter high (154 ft), thirty-six meter wide glass dome. The
entrance from the Piazza del Duomo is framed by a monumental triumphal
arch, drawing people from the square in front of the cathedral to the
arcade.

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