Milan, one of the fashion capitals of the world, does not need much introduction here. We arrived in Milan from Verona in early afternoon, was navigating the streets when we saw a church and decided to park there. By a stroke of luck, we have arrived at the Santa Maria delle Grazie that houses the famous Last Supper ('Cenacolo Vinciano') by Leonardo da Vinci.
Due to the unhappy incident in Venice, we only took a few hours walk around the historic center of the city before returning to our hotel. In the following morning we 'fled' to the safe haven of Switzerland.
1. Santa Maria delle Grazie. We did not get to see the Last Supper as one has to reserve the ticket a few months in advance. The Last Supper is actually a fresco(painting on wall) on the north wall of the Refectory, a small room beside the main church hall. The refectory was damaged during the second world war (protective sandbagging prevented the painting from being struck by bomb splinters), so the whole refectory are mostly plain white except the Last Supper, another fresco on the south wall, and some decorative fresco that have been preserved. We just visited the Church Hall (which has nothing much) and the bookshop.
2 to 6. The Castello Sforzesco was built in the 12th century and went through many transformation. It was saved from demolition in the late 19th century and was converted into an important museum centre.
7. The construction of the Duomo began in 1386 and was only completed in the 19th century, when Napoleon, who was crowned King of Italy here, had the facade completed. A massive late Gothic church in white marble, it is the third largest in the world, after St Peter's and Seville Cathedral. It has with hundreds of spires and thousands of statues on its exterior and a famous façade. Unfortunately the facade of the Duomo was undergoing maintenance when we were there.
8. The Galleria Vitrorio Emanuele II was one of the first iron and glass construction in Italy and now a famous shopping alley.
9 & 10. Dating from the 4th century, San Lotenzo is one of the oldest round churches in the western world. In front of the church are 16 Corinthian columns from the 2nd-3rd century. They were part of an unidentified temple and were placed in their present location in the 4th century. Also in front of the church is a statute of Constantine, who issued the Edict of Milan in AD313 bring the persecution of Christains to an end. When we were at the church there was a service for Philipinos.
11. The Sant' Ambrogio is a beautiful and huge Byzantic/Romanic church. It was founded in the 4th century and contains master pieces such as the San Vittore mosaics and the Golden Altar.
12. A street celebration for a victory by the Inter-Milan soccer team.
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