Italy-Milan (18/8/2002)
Italy is the 2nd country I been to after Switzerland. I juz stay in Milano for a day and took an evening train to Venice.
Hence I don't have much time over in Milano actually.
Milan's history as a capital city goes back at least 2,500 years. Its fortunes ever since - both as a great commercial
trading center and as the object of regular conquest and occupation - are readily explained by its strategic position at
the center of the Lombard plain, directly south of the central passes across the Alps.
The imposing Castello must be something of a travesty, so often has it been remodeled or rebuilt since it was begun in 1450
by Francesco Sforza, fourth duke of Milan (1401-66), the condottiere (hired mercenary) who founded the city's
second dynastic family. Today, the Castello houses municipal museums devoted variously to Egyptian and other antiquities, musical
instruments, paintings, and sculpture. Highlights are the Sala delle Asse, a frescoed room still sometimes attributed to
Leonardo da Vinci (1690-1730), and Michelangelo's unfinished Rondanini Pietà, believed to be his last work.
This intricate Gothic structure - Italy's largest - was begun by Galeazzo Visconti III (1351-1402), first duke of Milan, in
1386. Consecrated in 1577, it was not wholly completed until 1897. The building is adorned with 135 marble spires and 2,245
marble statues, and the Madonnina, the gleaming gilt statue that tops it, is a city landmark.
This extravagant Belle Epoque glass-topped, barrel-vaulted tunnel is actually one of the planet's earliest and most select
shopping malls. Set midway between the Duomo and La Scala, it is the heart of Milan, inviting people-watching from the
tables that spill from its bars and restaurants, where you can enjoy a ridiculously overpriced coffee. The Galleria is cruciform in shape, but the space at the crossing forms an octagon. If this is where you're standing, look
up and gawk: The great glass dome is a splendid sight. Sadly, its architect, Giuseppe Mengoni, accidently lost his footing
while on the roof of his creation and tumbled to his death on the floor, just days before its opening. Most shops open
9:30-1 and 3:30-7; others are open later or all day. Duomo.
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