More Milan

September 1, 2017

Another day in Milan to explore and recover from jet lag before hitting the road on my bike. I decided the hop on hop off bus was my best way to take in as much of the city as I could in one day since Milan is such a large city. It is of course known for haute couture but it is also the major financial city for Italy. There is not much of the very old city left but some things have been rebuilt or on the other extreme there many modern buildings. I went back to the Duomo and toured the inside plus I walked up to the roof for the view. I also visited the Castle of Milan "Castello Sforzesco".

The famous Duomo this morning from the bus roof. It is the symbol of Milan and is the second largest in Italy with only St Peters being bigger. It holds 40,000 people and took 600 years to complete beginning in the 1300s.

A side altar with its spectacular stained glass windows.

St Bartholomew was one of 12 Apostles and an early Christian martyr that was skinned. This statue was made by Marco d’Agrate in 1562 (Duomo cathedral, Milan-Italy). If you look closely, you’ll notice that’s not a robe, but actually his removed skin hanging around him. Such a macabre motif of the flayed Apostle carrying his own skin, was first met in The Last Judgment (Michelangelo) and continued to be a common representation for St. Bartholomew in paintings.

Some of the upper structure of the Duomo from the roof.

The galleria for shopping from the Duomo roof. Many of the Milan fashion houses have shops in here.

As in many European cities Milan has a fleet of city bikes on which the locals get around. We have them in Vancouver now and a few other Canadian cities but our winters make this idea less useful.

Trolley cars still roam the streets of Milan. These old style still exist along with bigger more modern ones. If these look famaiilar it's because there are several on the streets of San Francisco.

An example of the very modern architecture in Milan.

The only Canadian to ever win a grand tour was Ryder Hejsdal when he won the Giro d'Italia in 2012. The race finished at the Duomo in Milan.

Interesting apartment buildings in Mailn. They are called a vertical forest.

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