Milan's Duomo

Duomo is a generic Italian term for "cathedral church"; it seems like just about every city or town in Italy has it's own duomo. Florence's is supposed to be exquisite, I saw one in Agrigento, but my favorite is the one I saw in Milan. It's not only my favorite "duomo" but I think it's also my favorite church. (Even better than St. Peter's Basilica or the Sistine Chapel).



This church is centered in the heart of Milan in the Piazza Duomo and is actually the world's biggest Gothic cathedral. It was started in 1386 and finally finished in 1762 when it was dedicated to Saint Maria (Jesus' moms) when her golden statue was placed atop the tallest spire. The whole theme of the cathedral is the life of the virign Mary...on the facade it says "Maria Nascentae" and there are many various statues and dedications to her within the church.



The fact that this church is Gothic, while the majority of churches in Italy look Baroque (I don't really know what I'm talking about), is what attracts me to it the most. It's an amazing homogeneous structure where everything inside the church (and outside) seems to fit and tie together. And as with many churches, but especially with this one, the attention to detail is exquisite.

On the main facade are various statues and scenes depicting bible stories. The statues all over the front facade encompass the entire building and top many of the spires.



The stained glass windows in the church are exquisitely beautiful as they depict more bible stories or the general fight between good and evil. Behind the main altar of the church (called the apse are three large walls of many panels stained glass windows, one dedicated to the old testament, one to the new, and the last to the story of book of Revelation). Being a traditional church, it is laid out in a cross-shaped floorplan with the altar in the east. This produces an exquisite effect in the church in the morning as the sun rises at illuminates these stained glass windows.



Above the apse is a cross (with the red light). Within this cross, is supposedly a nail from Christ's cross. Emperor Constantine apparently kept it around his horse's bit when going into battle. Somewhere along the line it was given to Milan, where it was placed high above the altar as it was thought to be the safest place for it.



The Trivulzio Candelabra is housed in the Duomo and is just an amazing work of detail. At first glance it's just a big bronze candle holder (with a shout out to the 12-Tribes in it's Menorah inspired design)...but a closer look at the ivy base reveals Bible stories woven into the design.





One of my favorite statues in all of Italy is this of Saint Bartholomeo. It looks a lot like Skeletor at the Jack in the Box in Malibu, but it's actually St. Bartholomeo with his skin wrapped around his body like a sash. Look at the detail in the muscles...reminiscent of Leonardo's studies of the human body.



And I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking...



Looks like the symbol on the back of the dollar bill...


There's a hole in the ceiling that let's sunlight in and as the seasons pass along, the light shines on this line depicting the different zodiac signs.


Then I went outside onto the roof to get a view of all of Milan.