The Duomo of Milan

Just a stone's throw from my place, I made this my first stop. One of the best parts about traveling solo is that I can take my sweet time. So I got an audioguide and spent 3 hours soaking up one of the greatest cathedrals in the world.

The whole cathedral is a great work of art. The outside is filled with so much detail that it would be impossible to take note of everything. Amidst all the statues of saints, angles and biblical figures, the dedication of the church stands out "Mariae Nascenti". This church like many others is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

A tiny portion of the great facade

The interior is large and quite imposing. Just like the outside of the church, the inside too is loaded with detail. It is lined with columns, each about 20 meters high. Near the top of each column is a little niche with about 8 statues of various religious figures.

They're all starting to look alike..

There are far too many things to see in this church, but I'll mention a couple of my highlights. First there's the stain glass windows. The church is surrounded by these windows on both flanks leading all the way up to the apse. Each window will contain a story of some sort. One has the story of Joseph, another of John the Baptist or of King David. This all leads up to the front where there are three grand stained glass arches. One on the left filled with images from the old testament, the right with images from the new testament and the central one with the final judgement.

In a gruesome yet compelling moment, I came upon the statue of St. Bartholomew. He was skinned alive when he refused to stop preaching. The statue here depicts him with his skin draped all over his body. Apart from the fact that it's a terrifying thing to imagine, the statue is notable because of its accuracy in depicting the anatomy of the human body.

See the ribcage and the muscles?

High above the main altar is kept a very special gem that belongs to the church. On the dome, in a small cross surrounded by a sun, at the very center, is kept one of the nails that was used during the passion of Christ. It's a small tiny detail, but one that is hard for me to wrap my head around. To think that a relic like that has survived all these years, and to eventually be kept here directly above my head is simply mind boggling. It was said to have been a gift from the emperor Constantine to the city of Milan.

The safest place. 30m above ground

Finally, for an extra fee, I went up to the roof of the Duomo. I'm not sure whether or not any other cathedrals let you up to their terrace, but it was nice to be atop this one. From the roof, I could get a closer look at the spires. At the very top of the cathedral sits the statue of our lady of the assumption. From the ground she looks quite small, but when you get up close you can see that she's about 4 meters tall! It's a pretty impressive statue.