 Arounder Milano |
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Italy > Milano
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| The gabled form of the façade on two superimposed loggias, a narthex, and an upper loggia of five diminishing arches, seems to be framed at the base by the arcades of the atrium itself; while the higher part is flanked by the double profile of the bell towers, the southern and shorter one is called the Torre dei Monaci, and dates from the 9 th century, while the second one, incorporating delicate pilasters and small arches, is known as the Torre dei Canonici and was built between 1128 and 1144. On the left portal a pre-Romanesque relief depicting St. Ambrose is found; the central portal has lintels, door posts, and lunette formed by intaglio fragments dating from 8 th - 10 th century. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| The Sforzesco Castle is one of the most curious and fascinating monuments of town: defensive fortress, ducal palace, military barracks and at last seat of museums and cultural institutions. It is also the most representative civil monument of the Reinassance in Milan and its interest lies in the presence of the memories that each historical period left on it. Rebuilt between the end of the 19th and the 20th century, immediately after the armed forces left its premises in 1893, and when the State administration handed the property to the City Council. Luca Beltrami's works went on until year 1905 and were in fact a real reinvention with their innovative stylistic choices. The name "Sforzesco" was given by the same architect, who thought suitable by means of it to highlight the most splendid age the Castle had known: that of the Sforza family. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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The Galleria was initially planned as a covered street to honour the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph in 1859; but when Giuseppe Mengoni took over the direction of the works in 1864, it had already been dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy. The Galleria was opened in 1867 and completed by the year 1878. This monumental building with a glazed iron roof is a pedestrian mall linking Piazza del Duomo with Piazza della Scala. It is cross-shaped, the longest arm measuring 196 metres while the shortest 105.5 metres, 14.5 metres wide and 21 metres high, with the highest point reaching 47 metres.
Positioned on corbels at the entrances and in the Octagon between July and September 1867 were a series of life-size plaster statues of "illustrious men": figures who contributed to the foundation of literary, artistic and scientific culture. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| Sant'Eustorgio basilica is to be found in a simple square shaded by trees and though her façade is modest it is one of the most significant monumental complexes of town. The Basilica was founded in the 5th century by Bishop Eustorgio II, on the remains of a much more ancient one. Toward the end of the 11th century, the church was rebuilt according to the Romanesque solid forms, and so it remained until Federico Barbarossa did not destroy it almost completely, and in 1164 took a Roman sarcophagus to Cologne in which, following tradition, the relics of Three Magi are contained. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| San Lorenzo represents in its essence the early Christian topic of the central plant basilica, though slightly altered during the centuries (the cupola was rebuilt after 1573 and the façade is nineteenth century): the present day aspect dates back to late 16th century. The front yard is sided by the two buildings of the rectory (17th century) and is closed at the other end by sixteen Roman columns. In the parvis the modern copy of a statue of Emperor Constantine, who in 313 had legalized the Christian cult is to be found. Inside the church a majestic circular space with four exedras covered by calottes which open onto the large ambulatory and at the superior level, on the woman's galleries. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| Sixteen Roman Columns 8.5 metres high, dating back to imperial times, stand opposite the basilica. They come from a 2nd to 3rd century Roman temple and were brought here and rearranged in the 5th century as a part of a former four-sided atrium. These columns are very close to the Medieval doors of Porta Ticinese where Corso di Porta Ticinese meets with the roundabout road in the Navigli (Canals) area. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| Piazza dei Mercanti, was built from 1228, in square enclosure form. Since the Middle Ages, the square has hosted the premises of magistracy and administrative offices along with markets, schools, jails and stores. The works for the new street began in 1562 (starting from the western side) following Vincenzo Seregni's project, in which one can find the influence of then contemporary architect Galeazzo Alessi. In order to build the new street, the archways to the Pescheria Vecchia were torn down, together with the Fustagnari gate on the opposite side. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| Close to the city centre, looking up, one can notice the presence of an outstanding profile: it is the outline of Torre Velasca, whose symbolic value one is able to guess in the distance. The building was designed in the 1950s by a group of Milanese architects called BBPR after their names: Banfi, Belgiojoso, Peressutti and Rogers. The Velasca Tower belongs to the first generation of Italian modern architecture, nevertheless keeping itself linked to the Milanese context in which it was born, relating itself particularly to the cathedral, the bell towers in town and above all to the Sforzesco Castle. The tower, with his characteristic "mushroom" shape, sticks out into the city centre skyline (average height 99 meters): buildings, domes, towers and bell towers. Its structure recalls the Lombard tradition of the massive profile of towers and medieval fortresses in which the lower parts were narrower and generally used as stores, laboratories or shops while the higher storeys, generally used as homes, did stick out propped up by wooden boards or stone beam. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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You will find this great work of art that Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint by Ludovico il Moro, from 1496 to 1498, in the refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, outside the church a door, on your right, will lead you into it.
The Last Supper painted by Leonardo da Vinci is ingeniously devised as an expansion of the perspective of the space in which it is set (1495-1497). It is one of the most famous works of art in the world, and has long been an icon of Western civilization. The scene portrays the moment in which Jesus tells his disciples that one of them is about to betray him.
The Last Supper is included in the UNESCO's list. On the opposite wall there is a Crucifixion dating of the same period by Giovanni Donato Montorfano. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| The Darsena served as town river docks for goods transport in Milan. It was built from 1603, and it reached 750 meters of length, becoming one of the major river ports in Italy. Today the Darsena is a basin in which the Naviglio Grande, coming from Abiategrasso, heads into, and from which the Naviglio di Pavia comes out to flow into the Ticino river. One of the largest civil engineering works in medieval northern Italy, the so-called Naviglio Grande was opened in 12th century and finished in 1239. The Naviglio di Pavia (Pavia Canal) flows for 33 kilometres to join the Ticino river near the city of Pavia. Along the course of the canal twelve basins that allowed watercrafts to overcome the 52 meters difference in water level are since 1978 totally abandoned. Along the canal a picturesque neighbourhood, suggesting a Milan of the olden times, is to be discovered: its houses with their typical courtyards and long common balconies have remained unchanged through the years. In this area, the first days of June, the well-known Festa dei Navigli (Canals Festival) takes place, and every last Sunday of the month, you will be able to attend the Mercatone del Naviglio, the antique trade fair. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| The sense of grandeur soon strikes the visitor, whose attention is drawn by several worthy details. The church is externally 157 metres long, it is 92 metres large at the transept, with a surface of 11.700 square metres, with 3.400 statues. The plant is a Latin cross, the long arm space is divided into a nave and five aisles, that of the transept into three aisles, your glance is soon directed toward the altar, positioned at a slightly higher level, by an imposing perspective created by the sequence of pillars. The pillars' capitals are really original: they are made of eight niches hosting statues of martyrs near the altar and statues of angels near the apsidiole. The central nave is higher than the ones on the sides which preserve a 19 th century decoration in their vaults. The pointed arches just as the stained glasses are a typical of the Gothic style. The stained glasses picture the lives of saints and stories from the Holy Writings while letting the light through and creating stunning colour effects. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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| he Torre Branca, a slender metal made tower, stands out next to the Triennale Building, inside the Parco Sempione, right in the city centre. This tower, formerly named Littoria and inaugurated on August 10th 1933, was built on the occasion of the Fifth Triennale Exhibition of Decorative Arts following architect's Giò Ponti design. It is a 108.6 metres high metal prism totally made of steel tubular scaffolding (something quite unusual since at that time iron sections were generally used). Almost all connections are made through electric weldings. This hexagonal prism has a larger base and gets tighter the higher it gets. In the summer of 1997 the tower was re-opened to the public, after thorough works of renovation carried out by the "Fratelli Branca" company. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Italy > Milano
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Italy > Milano
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Italy > Milano
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Italy > Milano
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Italy > Milano
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Italy > Milano
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