Mark Twain said, “The Cathedral… is the first thing you look for when you get up in the morning and the last thing your eyes rest on at night. It is said that the Duomo of Milan comes only after St. Peter’s in the Vatican. I cannot understand how it can be second to any other work executed by the hand of man.”
You can therefore imagine how marvelous this Church is that has stood in the center of Milan since 1387, immediately placed under the care of the Veneranda Fabrica that preserves it with very frequent restoration work.
If the exterior of the Duomo is majestic and incredible, when you enter you will be even more amazed: five naves divided by fifty-two polystyle pillars supporting the vaults, fifty-five tall and narrow monumental windows from which a soft and never strong light filters, the floor interwoven with light and dark marbles.
Did you know that the marble from which the Duomo is built comes from only one place?
In fact, the Lord of Milan Gian Galeazzo Visconti decided to use only the stone from Candoglia in the Ossola Valley, summoning architects and sculptors from all over Europe to carry out the monumental project.
In the facade of the cathedral, you can have fun recognizing the different styles that followed each other from 1300 to 1900: Gothic, late Renaissance, Baroque, neo-Gothic…
The most important relic kept in the cathedral is the Holy Nail, one of the four of the True Cross, the one on which Jesus Christ was executed.
Today you will find it in a niche, very high, and thanks to a red light it is visible from all over the cathedral.
Finally, a treat: inside, near the entrance, you can see the sundial with the Capricorn symbol.
It is a brass strip in the floor that crosses the nave and goes up three meters on the north wall.
On the south wall, about 24 meters from the floor, is a hole from which, at solar noon, a beam of light enters and strikes the floor.