Duomo di Milano - Milan, Italy
Posted by: 
tmob
N 45° 27.852 E 009° 11.430
32T E 514892 N 5034536
Duomo di Milano, or Milan Cathedral in English, is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy.
Waymark Code: WMDK0D
Location: Lombardia, Italy
Date Posted: 01/23/2012
Views: 53
«Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente (Saint Mary Nascent), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Angelo Scola.
The Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete (from 1386 till 1965). It is the fourth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in the Italian state territory.
The plan consists of a nave with four side-aisles, crossed by a transept and then followed by choir and apse. The height of the nave is about 45 meters, the highest Gothic vaults of a complete church (less than the 48 meters of Beauvais Cathedral, which was never completed).
The roof is open to tourists (for a fee), which allows many a close-up view of some spectacular sculpture that would otherwise be unappreciated. The roof of the cathedral is renowned for the forest of openwork pinnacles and spires, set upon delicate flying buttresses.
The cathedral's five broad naves, divided by 40 pillars, are reflected in the hierarchic openings of the façade. Even the transepts have aisles. The nave columns are 24.5 metres high, and the apsidal windows are 20.7 x 8.5 metres. The huge building is of brick construction, faced with marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated in perpetuity to the cathedral chapter. Its maintenance and repairs are very complicated.»
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