The first time I ever visited Italy was about 10 years ago now. After a chance meeting in Mandalay, Myanmar, I accepted an invite to stay with some new friends in Milan, and THANK GOD I WENT. In retrospect, I think this was the beginning of me realizing how much I loved Europe—not for all the beautiful, old buildings and interesting history (although that doesn’t hurt either)—but for what it was (and still is) like to be there right now! I spent a magical week in Milan and taking trains around Northern Italy in the fall of 2015, and this place has been important to me ever since. So, thanks to Sophie for engineering my long-overdue return. ❤️
A Reintroduction to Duomo di Milano & Piazza del Duomo
Milan (or, in Italian, Milano) is not a city that is known for its beauty—at least not within Italy. But I never thought this was fair. Yes, Milan prioritizes function over form, and is more of an industrial hub than any other city in Italy… but the rest of Italy sets an extremely high bar for what it means to be a ~beautiful city. In most other countries, this would be considered an absolutely gorgeous city, but when you’re competing with Rome, Florence, and Venice… yeah, it’s going to be a losing battle. But comparison is the thief of joy, and Milan is still quite beautiful in its own rite! More to the point; it will give you a better window into what everyday life looks like for Italians much better than Venice or Florence ever could. This is real life, and—to me—real life in Milan looks pretty damn good.
Duomo di Milano is arguably the centerpiece of Milan, and the plaza bearing its name—Piazza del Duomo—sits at the center of “Central Milan”. We’ll branch out to other parts of the city in forthcoming articles, but today, we’re only going to focus on the comings and goings of this little area. Here are a few pictures of the plaza itself and the surrounding streets before we jump into the landmarks.
Super ugly, right? 😂
Before we arrive at the Duomo—the main event—we have to first make a pit stop at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is actually probably Instagram’d more than the Duomo itself.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Having been built between 1865 and 1877, this landmark is not crazy old by European standards. It was designed by the architect Giuseppe Mengoni, who actually died shortly before its completion after tragically falling from the scaffolding on this massive structure. Connecting the Duomo with La Scala Opera House, this Galleria was named after King Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy’s first monarch after Italian unification (1861). Milan had actually been under the rule of the Habsburg-run Austrian Empire since 1714 (with a brief Napoleonic intermission), so this was truly the dawn of a new age in Milan. This time is now remembered as the ‘Risorgimento era’ (“resurgence” or “revival), and it saw the the fractured Italian peninsula unified under a single flag. Prior to this, modern day Italy was broken down into:
Kingdom of Sardinia–Piedmont (ruled by the House of Savoy, HQ’d in Turin)
Lombardy–Venetia (ruled by Austria)
Papal States (central Italy, ruled by the Pope)
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (southern Italy and Sicily, ruled by the Bourbons)
Various duchies (Tuscany, Parma, Modena, etc.)
So, historically, this Galleria was a celebratory symbol of Italian unification; but also, an embodiment of bourgeois modernity. There is some serious pride in this structure, and people still love it, all these years later. It can actually be quite annoying to walk through here, because everybody is doing a photoshoot of themselves. 🙄
But now, we’re going to walk a few meters south to the main event: Duomo di Milano. Often referred to simply as “the Duomo”, the full name translates to the “House of God”. Many Italian cities have their own “Duomos”, but Milan’s is, architecturally, quite unique. Before I jump into some quick history on the subject, let me present it to you in the same way it would if you were walking down the street in Milan. Here are some views of it, where the narrow streets give way to the main Piazza…
And here’s what it looks like after you actually walk through its massive doors! Tickets can be purchased on the southern front corner of the church, and there are all sorts of add-ons where you can go up into high places in the Duomo. We opted for the ‘basic’ package though. Here’s a peek inside…
Our ticket also earned us entrance into a museum on the history of this magnificent structure, I’ll take this opportunity pass along some of that information. Built in the Gothic style, but with distinctive Lombard influence, construction on this thing started in 1386 but didn’t officially complete until 1965. It was mostly complete before 1800s, but still—that’s almost 600 years! It was truly the Sagrada Familia of its day—which, by the way, is STILL not complete. 😂
Prior to the beginning of construction in 1386, there were actually other churches here, but the rulers of this territory wanted to project Milanese power by building a Duomo to rival those of the other powerful entities in their region (i.e. Rome, Florence, etc). In the centuries that passed during the construction process, Milan changed rulers a number of times, and each of them had a different relationship with the project. When you consider just how much changed between 1386 and 1965… it starts to feel actually quite miraculous that the church was finished at all! Here’s a glimpse inside the museum, at some of the more interesting Duomo-related historical artifacts.
During this trip, we had dinner at a restaurant called Obicà, which has a pretty unreal view of the Duomo. I’d seen the Duomo before, but never from this angle. It was very cool! As far as the restaurant goes, it’s a chain. I’m not crazy about chains… but I am crazy about this view! And the food was great too! So I will make an exception for my chain-distain and give it my endorsement; if you’re planning a trip to Milan… make a reservation for sunset!
And of course, I’d be remiss not to show you the Duomo lit up under full cover of night. Here are a few shots of the Duomo on a warm summer night in Milan… when I see these pictures, I am reminded of the the first time I saw this church 10 years. It was one of the first really cold days of fall; I was under-dressed. I would imminently be returning home from the trip that started it all for this blog, and this church at night was one of the last things I saw before I got on the plane. When I see these pictures, I feel the cold of that night. Nothing has changed.
Up next we’re going to be getting out of the epicenter into some of Milan’s most beautiful and interesting neighborhoods! And then, we’ll wrap this mini-series up with a street art installation. Stay tuned!
