October 4 Friday (still not clear on the date)
THE LAST SUPPER AND THE DUOMO
Today we woke up late but still made it to the tour this
morning. The main part of the tour is to
see the Duomo and Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. The Doumo is the fourth largest Cathedral in
Europe after the Vacatin’s, London’s, and Seville’s and took over 600 years to
build. The other side trips we took were
to the Castello Sforzesco, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, and the Teatro alla
Scala. The city was built in medieval times, under
many different flags. They have been
French, Spanish, Gaul, and Italian.
Because of the centuries of different rule and the establishment of
fortresses here, there are two different city walls that were in place at one
time. Churches and homes were built and
burned down and replaced. The city
maintains it wheel spoke plan with the Doumo as the center and all roads
spoking out to the walls. The interior
roads run at angles and throughout the city.
We walked most of the interior wall today but are staying outside of the
center.
The first stop was the Duomo. We met the tour guide there, but had time
before she arrived for coffee and pastry.
Once she was there she gave us the historical background of the area,
the buildings and relevant history of Milan.
The tour of the Duomo could take as long as you have to listen. We took about an hour within the walls. Back when Europe was fragmented into
countless tiny kingdoms and dukedoms, the dukes of Milan wanted to impress their
counterparts in Germany and France. They
wanted to earn Milan recognition and respect from both the Vatican and the
kings and princes of northern Europe by building a massive, richly ornamented
cathedral. Even though other styles were
in vogue, because they were trying to impress those in northern Europe they
stayed with a more conservative Gothic style.
To make sure it was “special” they built it from pink Candoglia marble
rafted from a quarry about 60 miles away across Lake Maggiore and down a canal
to a port at the Cathedral.
During World War II, the stained glass panes were removed
and put back up later … but in the wrong order.
The spires on the exterior are great examples of baroque design at its finest. One new fact we learned that the Holy Mother
Mary always had to be at the highest point in a town. At some point someone built something higher
and she had to be placed on a higher spire.
The highlight of the day was viewing the Last Supper. It is within its own building and because of
the need to keep it within a climate controlled area there are limited tickets
daily. Only 30 people can be in the room
at a time. You must enter through
several “locked” areas and stay while the polluted air is removed from around
you. You may only stay in the room for 15
minutes. It was painted by Leonardo
while he was brought to Milan to paint for a wealthy duke. Most paintings at the time were done as
Fresco (painted into the plaster and paint as the wall was built); this was
painted on the wall over several years.
It is fragile and had to be restored through the years. During the war the building was destroyed but
the wall holding the painting was saved.
It was in the open air for many years. The last restoration completed in
1999 took it back to its original state.
It was stunning.
We took the rest of the day to explore Milan and then headed
back to our hotel to rest up for dinner.
Long day, but it was well worth the effort.
Ciao!!
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