Historic Milan is located at the center of a network of streets, the main of which (corso) are connected by bypasses (circles) z Piazza del Duomo. It is the main landmark in the city and the center of the district, which is within the first, running along the line of the medieval city walls, obwodnicy Cerchia dei Navigli. Most of the monuments in the city are located here, as well as the finest shops and cafes. During breaks in visiting the gallery, museums, of the cathedral and other churches it is worth taking a look at the displays in Armani stores, Gigli and Krizia in the so-called. Quadrilatero d'Oro or have a drink in a very elegant company in one of the cafes in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele or in the vicinity of the Accademia di Brera. Second ring road, Viali, covers two large parks, Parco Sempione and Giardini Pubblici, Castello Sforzesco and the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie with the most famous painting in Milan, Leonardo's Last Supper, and in the south, following in the footsteps of the defensive walls built during the Spanish occupation of the city, reaches the banks of the Navigli Canal. Below we present a description of the city divided into districts. Milan is not a city, which you can go on foot, this is why, wherever possible, you have to use public transport.
Piazza del Duomo
Big, Mostly pedestrianized, Piazza del Duomo is the unmistakable center of the city. It's rarely quiet here: eternally rushing Milanese run out of the metro station, dodging among the sellers of ice cream and pigeon grain, fashionably dressed youth sit on the cathedral steps, and well-groomed women in high heels walk across the square towards exquisite cafes.
After looking at street life, you need to pay attention to the largest Gothic cathedral in the world standing on the square. Started by the Yisconti in a year 1386, it was built for five centuries, to year 1813, when the last elements of decoration were placed on the facade. From the outside, the building looks completely unique, not only because of the ornamentation of the whole and the facade, which is an interesting combination of gothic and baroque, but also the sizes. The marble specially selected by Viscontich comes from the quarries in Candoglia near Lago Maggiore and is still used in restoration work. (the cathedral is constantly deteriorating under the influence of the polluted environment of the city).
Inside the cathedral, a greenish one breaks through the stained glass, as if the light coming from the underworld, in which marble columns look like huge bones. The French writer Suares even compared this interior to "the bowels of a mighty beast."”. Brass strip in the floor at the entrance, along which the signs of the zodiac are placed, it is the largest in Europe, located here for a year 1786, sundial. The beam of light continues to strike him through an opening in the vault, but changes in the position of the earth's axis did, that it is no longer accurate and it is better not to set the clock on it. On the right side of the cathedral is one of the more macabre statues in the cathedral, 16th-century image of St.. Bartholomew. His torn apart by the torturers, but still in the form of knees, feet and toes, the saint throws his skin over his shoulder like a cloak, and his muscles and bones are reproduced with anatomical accuracy.
In the back of the church, high above the presbytery, a large crucifix is hung, which contains the most important of the relics owned by the church: nail from the cross of Christ, which was used by Emperor Constantine as a bit for his horse. Once a year, 14 September, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the cross is lowered by a mechanism invented by Leonardo da Vinci. Under the presbytery, however (side entrance) there is a funerary chapel of St.. Karola Borromeo (Boromeusza) octagonal crypt of Scurolo di San Carlo (codz. 9.00-12.00 and 14.00-18.00; 1000L). Saint Charles was a saintly cardinal, who lived in the 16th century and was canonized for his zeal in working for the poor people of Milan. He introduced reforms in his local church, which antagonized the corrupt church hierarchs. It was also he who ordered the construction of a large altar in the northern transept of the cathedral, to prevent Milanese people from shorting their way to the market through the church through the door there. The saint is lying in a glass coffin, in a death mask, dressed in a rich outfit with precious stones, in gloves and in gold, supposedly designed by Cellini, the crown.
The treasury adjacent to the final resting place of Charles Borromeo has, among others,. very richly decorated covers of the Gospels, Byzantine ivory carvings and beautiful vestments. At the main entrance to the cathedral, you go down to the 4th century baptistery (Tue-Sun. 10.00-12.00 and 15.00-17.00), in which year 387 neither. st. Ambrose baptized St.. Augustine. Augustine had come to Milan three years earlier with his illegitimate child and after becoming acquainted with various pagan religions and Christianity, he was finally converted by Ambrose, who was then the bishop of Milan. Turning right after going outside, you come to the elevator, which takes tourists to the roof of the cathedral. There you can not only admire the beautiful views of the city, and with good visibility also the Alps, and sunbathe, but also to walk among the tracery forest, turrets and statues. Among them, the central tower stands out, above its marble decorations dominates the gilded figure of the Madonna looking out over the city.
Across the street, in the wing of the Palazzo Reale on the south side of the square, the Museo del Duomo is located (Tue-Sat. 9.30-12.30 and 15.00-17.30). It has castings of a large part of approx. 3000 statues and gargoyles, swarming on the roof of the cathedral, and an exhibition of suggestions, which were submitted to the competition for a new facade design organized at the end of the 19th century. Fortunately, the reconstruction plan was not implemented, both due to the death of the winner of the competition, and the habits of Milanese people to the characteristically heterogeneous appearance of the facade.
Housed in the same building, the Civico Museo di Arte Contemporanea (Tue-Sun. 9.30-12.20 and 14.30-17.20; Free entrance) it boasts of being exhibited partially in chronological order, and partly according to the color scheme, a diverse collection of 20th century art. Richly represented, m.in. by the works of De Chirico, Boccioniego, Morandiego is in Pisa, there is art from the beginning of the 20th century, but there are also works by more contemporary artists, among which the colors of Lucio Fontana's canvas stand out. The cuts and perforation visible on them are supposed to create the impression of the infinity of the space hidden behind them.