Buongiorno!
Last time I left you off I showed you all around the Duomo. Now it's time to venture inside. Let's go!
The sheer size the Duomo is difficult to describe because it's magnitude is fantastic. It looms over the plaza and just asserts it's authority. In simple form, it's huge!
Every inch of it's surface is covered in decorations and reliefs. Everything is so delicate and intricate.
Inside the Duomo was very hot, no A/C. The nave, the center aisle of the church, was as long as the ceilings were high, and man where they high!
I know this photo came out blurred but there's something so soft about this picture. It's honestly one of my favourite pictures from the trip.
Everything was so ordinate and beautiful. It made me think about what it must have been like to attend a mass here back in the 15th or 16th century.
So behind the apse of the cathedral is the ambulatory. If you're looking at the top picture it's located where the stain glass windows are. We walked around the alter to the right and came face to face with these wonderful sculptures.
Back behind the alter was a stairway leading down to a crypt.
A tilted picture of the coffin of St. Carlo.
Stepping back out of the crypt and into the ambulatory to our left were the beautiful and breathtaking stain glass windows.
And all the way back in the front of the Duomo by the front doors was a stairway leading down underground. Most of the signs were in Italian, which I can speak well but not that fluently! So basically what I gathered was that what you are now seeing is part the original groundwork and foundation of the church before the Duomo was built on top of it.
This octagon shaped pool was used for baptisms.
And look at that, we're back outside again!
Last time I left you off I showed you all around the Duomo. Now it's time to venture inside. Let's go!
Inside the Duomo was very hot, no A/C. The nave, the center aisle of the church, was as long as the ceilings were high, and man where they high!
If you look closely at the bottom center of the photo, right above the stain glass window you should see a red dot. You can see it in the two pictures above this one too. It's actually a red light bulb. I was reading about the Cathedral and that red light bulb is actually a place marker. It's said that one of the nails of the crucifixion of Jesus hung there. And the nail is actually still kept in the Duomo. Fun Fact for you!
So past the transept is the apse where the alter is located. You can see it below.
So behind the apse of the cathedral is the ambulatory. If you're looking at the top picture it's located where the stain glass windows are. We walked around the alter to the right and came face to face with these wonderful sculptures.
Stepping back out of the crypt and into the ambulatory to our left were the beautiful and breathtaking stain glass windows.
The colours streaming through were so vibrant and each panel was so detailed. If it weren't for the insane number of people crowded into one cathedral I think I could have stayed there all day studying each window pane.
I've decided that at some point in my life I will learn the ancient art of stain glass. I think I said this before back in May when I went to Chicago. Remember the stain glass I saw at Marshall Field's? Well I definitely still want to learn how to do this.
We're moving away from the back of the cathedral back towards the front now. Take in that beautiful structural detailing in the vaulted ceilings. I seriously love cathedral ceilings.
Back toward the entrance of the Duomo on the left hand side was this beautiful Madonna and Child.
And look at that, we're back outside again!
I hope you enjoyed touring the Duomo di Milano with me. It really is something, isn't it? It's amazing to think that this structure has been standing here at the heart of the city since about the 15th century. I would love to have seen what it was like back then.
Well that's all for this long post! Until next time,
Cheers xo
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