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Milan cathedralMilan Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Milano) is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente (Saint Mary Nascent), took nearly six centuries to be completed.
The construction of the cathedral began in 1386, when the archbishop's cousin Gian Galeazzo Visconti came to power in Milan. The Madonnina Statue
In 1762 one of the main features of the cathedral, the Madonnina's spire, was erected at the dizzying height of 108.5 m. at the top a famous polychrome Madonnina statue, which is nor the symbol of the city. The Milanese consider it a fair-weather day when the Madonnina is visible from a distance. In 1934 Giovanni d'Anzi wrote the song "O mia bela Madunina" (see video section, at the end of the page) about the golden Madonna statue on the spire; this song can be considered today an unofficial "city anthem" of Milan. Fabrica del Dom The last details of the cathedral were finished only in the 20th century: the last gate was inaugurated on January 6, 1965. This date is considered the very end of a process which had proceeded for generations. This process took a such log time that many Milanese dialect speakers use the "Fabbrica del Duomo" (the name of the organization in charge of the construction of the cathedral - "Fabrica del Dom" in dialect) as an adjective (sometimes humorously, sometimes not) to describe an extremely long, too complex task, maybe even impossible to complete. The Cathedral Structure
The Duomo di Milano 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. The cathedral's five broad naves, divided by 40 pillars. The nave columns are 24.5 metres (80 ft) high, and the apsidal windows are 20.7 x 8.5 metres. 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. Even the drainage pipes are masked by gargoyles. In November 2012 a campaign to raise funds for the cathedral's was launched offering the possibility to "adopt" one of the 135 gargoyles, giving to the donors the right to have their name engraved under one of the gargoyles.
Statue of Liberty...
On the left side of the balcony above the central door of the Cathedral there is a statue, named "The New Law", which is incredibly similar to the famous Statue of liberty of NY. This statue dates back to 1810 and was made by Camillo Pacetti. It is believed that this statue is the model that has inspired Frederic Auguste Bartholdi for the construction of the Statue of Liberty in New York, in 1885. |
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"O mia bela Madunina", the unofficial "city anthem" of Milan.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Attribution. wikipedia.org
Top banner licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Unported license. Attribution: Alessandro Prada known as bibendum84 at www.flickr.com
Facade image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Jakub Hałun
Madonnina image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Ulrich Mayring
Gargoyle image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Pilgab
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Attribution. wikipedia.org
Top banner licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Unported license. Attribution: Alessandro Prada known as bibendum84 at www.flickr.com
Facade image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Jakub Hałun
Madonnina image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Ulrich Mayring
Gargoyle image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Pilgab