Monday, June 30, 2025

FOUR DAYS IN MILAN, ITALY: The Duomo, Museums, Cimitero Monumentale, Canals, and More

Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, Milan, Italy. 

Milan is the bustling center of modern Italian design and fashion. Even babies in their strollers are well-dressed. The city also has a long history, with countless churches, palaces, museums, and historic sites to entice visitors. In early June, Art and I spent four days in Milan at the beginning of a ten-day trip to northern Italy.

Display welcoming the 2026 Winter Paralympics to Milan/Cortina.

Like all of our trips to Europe, a nine-hour time difference from our home in California, we allowed several days to adjust to the time change. We arrived in Milan on a Sunday, and after checking in at our hotel in the city center, walked to a nearby pizzeria for a light supper, ending with our favorite Italian dessert, caramel panna cotta. Every meal we ate in Italy was delicious!

The Milan Duomo (Cathedral).

The next day our focus was the Duomo, the cathedral that sits in the middle of Milan like a giant stone wedding cake. As we stood in the piazza gazing up at the roof spires, we could see tiny people walking up to the top. We then made our way to the back of the cathedral to wait for our turn to ride the elevator to the roof. (We had bought tickets online ahead of time. Alternatively, you can climb up the 165 steps to the top—a cheaper ticket and different line.) Security is strict to get into the Duomo. Women are required to have covered shoulders and knees and flip-flop sandals are not allowed. If you show up in shorts or a sleeveless top you can purchase a thin white cover-up garment.

View of Milan from the roof of the Duomo.

As we emerged from the elevator we found ourselves on the first roof level, amongst the flying buttresses and 135 statue topped spires, and with a spectacular view of all of Milan. In the distance was the modern business center of the city, with its skyscrapers and the needle-like tower, the Torre Pirelli . Until it was built (1955-60), the Duomo was the tallest building in Milan.

Walkway around the roof of the Duomo.

As we followed the route around the roof we got close-up views of the elaborate stonework and hundreds of figures perched on the spires before our final climb to the roof peak. Once again we admired the view, and then from there descended the narrow circular staircase to the inside of the Duomo.

Marble floor of the Duomo. Woman wearing cover-up over her bare arms.

Some of the 52 pillars inside the Duomo.

Sculptured panels on the central doors of the Duomo.

We had purchased an audio tour for our phone to guide us around the inside of the Duomo and this helped us appreciate the history and significance of its various parts. Everything in the cathedral is over-the-top, from the huge stained-glass windows (said to be the largest in Christendom), to the marble floor, the pillars (52 of them, one for every week of the year), the numerous side chapels, and the huge paneled doors on the front.

Detail from one of the windows of the Duomo, displayed in the Duomo Museum.

Gargoyles from the Duomo, some from the 14th Century, moved to the Museum for conservation.

The construction of the Duomo began in the 14th century but was not completed until Napoleon’s time. The Duomo Museum, next to the cathedral, displays statues, gargoyles, building models and artifacts that tell the Duomo’s 600-year history. A side doorway in the museum takes you through a courtyard to a small hidden chapel, San Gottordo in Corte, refreshing in its simplicity. A fresco from the Giotto School was recently discovered on one of its walls.

Courtyard leading to the chapel of San Gottordo in Corte.

Before returning to our hotel, we did a short tour of the Vittorio Emmanuel II shopping arcade, located at the side of the Duomo Piazza, and billed as the Rodeo Drive of Italy, with its glamorous designer stores. However, most people in the crowded mall were tourists, not shoppers, taking selfies under the magnificent domed roof.

Center of the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II. 

The next day began with a visit to the weekly street fair and farmer’s market on Viale Pepiniano. The wealth of available fresh fruits and vegetables on display explains why Italian cooking is so good!  

Stall at the Tuesday farmers' market on Viale Pepiniano.

We purchased super-sweet cherries just in season. On our way back to our hotel we stopped to visit the Basilica and monastery of Sant' Ambrogio one of the most ancient churches in Milan.

Mosaic of Christ the Pantocrator (4th to 8th C.) in the apse of the Basilica of Sant' Ambrogio.

In the afternoon we met my cousin and her husband who live in Milan, who gave us a personal tour of some sites that I had read about in my guidebook but were outside the city center. (They had a car.) The first was the CimiteroMonumental, a burial ground for the rich and famous begun in Victorian times, that is more like an open-air art museum than a graveyard. (Entrance is free.) A map at the entrance marks the mausoleums and graves of particular importance. 

Reclining figure at the Cimitero Monumental.

Ziggurat-like sculpture at the Cimitero Monumental. Tomb of Antonio Berocchi, created by Giannino Castiglioni.

It seems that every Italian artist worth his salt has been invited to create a sculpture here. Themes vary from the intimate to the majestic, with many references to ancient history. The shaded walkways were welcome on the warm day of our visit and there were almost no other people there on a weekday afternoon.

The Bosco Verticale apartment building, designed by Boen Studio in the Porta Nuova area of Milan.

Our next stop was at the Bosco Verticale, or Vertical Forest, a unique pair of apartment buildings covered with so many trees and plants they appear as giant trees themselves.

Summer evening in the Navigli (canal) District, Milan, with its restaurants, shops, live music and giant video screens.

Our day ended with dinner at a restaurant in the Navigli, or canal, District. At the time that the Duomo was under construction in Milan, a system of canals was dug (including a lock designed by Leonardo) in order to transport marble from the quarries in the mountains to the city. In the last century, most of the canals were filled in, but a few remain. Today they are lined with shops and restaurants and have a lively night life. Next to the canal, a communal washing station is preserved, from the time that women gathered here to wash their clothes and chat.

Science Museum. Models of some of Leonardo's flying machines.

Science Museum. Cat drawings by Leonardo da Vinci.

We did not see Leonardo’s Last Supper, perhaps Milan’s most famous artwork. Limited tickets are available and need to be purchased months ahead of time, which we didn’t do. But, on our last day, we visited the Leonardoda Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology where most of the second floor is devoted to Leonardo’s life and many inventions, with models, drawings, artifacts and multi-media displays. One section focused on the many works of art inspired by and modeled on Leonardo's Last Supper.

On the bridge of the canal.

We didn’t visit La Scala, the Sforza Castle, or go shopping while we were in Milan. Not enough time to do everything. But we did see a lot and enjoyed delicious Italian food. And after four days we had made significant progress on our jet lag and were ready for our driving trip to the Alps.

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