The art capital, fashion capital, financial capital and the capital of Mussolini, Milano has seen a lot of history. I have been wanting to visit Milan for a long time now, well, I have been wanting to visit every corner of Italy!
After our visit to Lake Como we only had half a day to spend in Milan. We had a made a list of things to do in the short time we had here and were determined to keep up with the schedule, no matter what!
Jump to
After arriving at Milano Centrale, we went down to the basement to leave our suitcase before taking the subway to Cadorna. Our initial plan was to visit the Brera neighbourhood and stop for lunch there. With very less time we decided to head to miscusi for a quick lunch. I had made the reservations online but we still had to wait for a while to be seated. However once we were seated the service was very quick. Going with our theme most in the family tried out the pistachio pesto. It has become such a favourite that now it is a regular at home too!
The Last Supper by Leonardo
We quickly finished our lunch and headed to what was to be the most anticipated sight in Milan. Da Vinci’s The Last Supper or Il Cenacolo / Ultima Cena in Italian. Very few timed tickets are released for a short 15 minute visit and we had to be quick to grab ours. I had reserved the tickets as soon as I booked our flight tickets to Italy, roughly 2-3 months before our visit.
The Last Supper was commissioned by Duke of Milan, Sforzo, and Leonardo being the inventor he was decided to experiment painting on dry wall with oil as he wanted to revisit and make changes to the painting for a long period. This painting is said to have taken 3-4 years to finish. This was also painted on the wall of the refectory and that was shared by the kitchen on the other side. Hence the fresco started deteriorating soon after it was complete in 1498. Numerous efforts were taken to restore the painting, the last one being in 1999 which took 21 years to complete. It is for this reason there is so much effort taken to protect it against humidity and pollution.
It was mid afternoon and it was very hot. We picked up our tickets in the customer service and also stored our bags in the lockers before our visit. No food or drink including water was allowed into the refectory (which is now a museum) and hence we put everything away before entering the museum. We had a few minutes in the corridor that was air conditioned to cool off before the doors opened to allow us to look at the fresco.
The refectory was dimly lit with most of the lights focused on The Last Supper and on the Crucification painting on the wall across. Everyone rushed to see the The Last Supper up close. The most striking feature about this fresco in spite of its faded colours is the faces of Jesus and his twelve apostles. Each one had a expression. Some were confused, some angry, some sad and in the midst of them all sat Christ, peacefully. Being one of Leonardo’s earlier paintings it was obvious why he evolved as a master with facial expressions.
The beauty of the painting has to be experienced in person. Though I have seen the painting ever since Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code became popular nothing prepared me for this moment.
We had exactly 15 minutes to look at it before the staff requested us to leave to let the next batch in.
Duomo di Milano
It was unbearably hot and we decided to train it to the Duomo instead of walking. I had booked tickets to see the inside of the cathedral to skip the queues. There was also an option to go to the roof top but due to our limited time in Milan I skipped it. It was unbearably hot outside with the Italian summer sun reflecting off the white marble.
Work on the Milan Cathedral began in 1386 and took a whopping 6 centuries to finish! The last work was completed in 1965. It is the largest church in Italy with St. Peter’s Basilica being in the sovereign country of Vaticano.
The cavernous interior of the cathedral offered cool respite from the scorching sun outside and we sat down to take all the different features. The stained glass windows to the various churches held our interest. The highlight was the statue of St. Bartholomew wearing his flayed skin on his shoulders like a tunic.
After exploring the cathedral we decided to walk to get some, what else, gelato! This time we decided to visit the famed Cioccolatitalini. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea and it was extremely crowded. We got their artisan ice cream cones and milk shakes that were too good to be true and then walked over to Piazza della Scala.
Piazza della Scala
The only reason why I would want to visit Piazza della Scala is because it hosts the only sculpture of Leonardo da Vinci. This statue was erected in 1872 and features Leonardo on top of a pedestal. The brilliant renaissance painter, sculptor, scientist and inventor!
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Across from the piazza is the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II. This is Italy’s oldest active shopping centre. Featuring 4 levels shaped like a Greek cross, it houses some of the most recognisable brands in the world. This was built in the 19th century and was the first to feature extensive work. The iron and glass dome above its octagonal centre is a feature in itself. The mosaic flooring and sculptures on the walls make this galleria a class apart.
By this time we were completely drained due to the intense 3 days and the scorching Italian summer and were eager to get back to Centrale to pick up our bags before taking a bus to the airport.
With that our third trip to Italy came to an end!
Fly ✧ Ride ✧ Drive 