Milan’s art scene is truly remarkable – see it for yourself.
Duomo (Cathedral)
At the heart of the city, Milan's Cathedral is the world's largest Gothic cathedral, begun in 1386 and added to each century thereafter. The best time to visit is in bright sunshine, when the windows create a kaleidoscope of colour through the cavernous interior. St Charles Borromeo, its most important benefactor, lies buried at its heart. A champion of the Counter Reformation, he commissioned the wooden choir, many of the statues and the nivola, the peculiar basket that is used in one of Milan's stranger ceremonies. Twice a year (May and September), Milan's most important relic, a nail from the cross of Christ, which has been displayed over the high altar since 1461, is brought down by the bishop who is hoisted up there in the nivola. Visitors should explore the underground octagonal chamber where Borromeo is buried (Lo Scurolo di San Borromeo) and the adjacent Treasury. World War II bombs thankfully just missed the Cathedral's roof, which nests amid a majestic web of flying buttresses, spires and pinnacles. Above the forest of statues (there are over 3400), the small gilded copper statue of the Virgin, the 'Madonnina', erected in 1774, stands over the central lantern, 108.5m (119ft) above the city. Visitors should take the lifts outside the apse to avoid climbing the 158 stairs. On a clear day, the view north extends as far as the Alps. The Musea del Duomo next door is well worth a visit for EUR5.
Piazza del Duomo 18
Tel: (02) 7202 2656.
Website: www.internetlanda.com/duomo
Transport: Metro Duomo; bus 2, 3, 8, 15, 18 or 19.
Opening hours: Daily 0700-1900.Admission: Free (Cathedral); EUR1 (Treasury); EUR4.50 (terrace by lifts); EUR3 (terrace by stairs).
Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II
Entered from the Piazza in front of the Cathedral, the glass-domed cruciform Vittorio Emmanuele II Gallery is a civilised place in which to meet someone or for the weary visitor to rest. This vast Belle Epoque shopping arcade was built to link the Piazza del Duomo to the Piazza della Scala and soon became Milan's conservatory. Winter and summer, Milanesi can be seen here, escaping the rain, browsing the exclusive shops and sipping campari and soda in the bars.
Piazza del Duomo
Transport: Metro Duomo; bus 2, 3, 8, 15, 18 or 19.
Opening hours: 24 hours (shops, bars and restaurants close at various times).
Museo Teatrale alla Scala (Theatre Museum at La Scala)
Opera lovers should visit this museum, crammed with rich mementoes of the celebrated opera house, La Scala. Two halls are devoted to Milan's darling Verdi, whose 'Slaves Chorus' from Nabucco remains the unofficial Italian anthem. Memorabilia include the spinet on which he learned to play, scores in his own hand and the jewel-encrusted baton presented to him after the triumphal reception of Aida. Rossini, Puccini and Toscanini are honoured alongside him.
Piazza della Scala
Tel: (02) 805 3418.
Website: www.lascala.milano.it
Transport: Metro Duomo or Montenapoleone; tram 1, 2 or 27; bus 50, 58, 61 or 73.
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1230 and 1400-1730. Closed Sun, Nov-Apr. For those attending the opera, the museum remains open until 2300.
Admission: EUR3.
Santa Maria delle Grazie
The Last Supper (Cenacolo) is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Lodovico Sforza commissioned Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece (1495-97) for the refectory adjoining the Dominican church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The painting depicts the moment of Christ's revelation of the betrayal. The 12 apostles are grouped into threes, Christ at the centre, Judas (described by Vasari as a 'study in perfidy') to the right, his hand frozen on the bag of silver on the table. Over the years, paint flaked off because Leonardo applied it directly to dry plaster (fresco secco) instead of bonding the pigments with wet plaster (buon fresco). Controversy rages over the recent removal of layers of corrective overpainting in the 18th and 19th centuries. Despite deterioration, the painting is lucky to have survived (a bomb destroyed the refectory roof in 1943)and, when first seen, the experience is quite unforgettable.
Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie 2, Corso Magenta
Tel: (02) 8942 1146.
Transport: Metro Cadorna; tram 20, 24, 29 or 30.
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 0900-1900, Sun 0900-2000. Visits are limited to 15 minutes, in groups of 20. Booking is mandatory and reservations are only accepted 60 days prior to visit. Credit cards are not accepted.
Admission: EUR6 (plus EUR1 reservation fee).
Museo d'Arte Antica del Castello Sforzesco (Museum of Historic Art of the Sforza Castle)
Three municipal museums compete for attention within the redbrick Sforza Castle on the edge of the Parco Sempione but the most venerable is the Museum of Historic Art. Visitors come to see Michelangelo's last work, the unfinished Pietà Rondanini, depicting the Virgin cradling the body of Christ, which was bought by the museum in 1952. The sculpture's rough surface and abstract sinuosity is strikingly modern. Upstairs, above the extensive sculpture galleries, there is a large collection of paintings, including notable works by Mantegna, Antonello da Messina and Leonardo da Vinci. Besides the combined Museum of Historic Art and the Pinacoteca del Castello (housing Italian painting from the 13th to 18th century), the other two museums - the Museum of Applied Arts (exhibiting wrought-iron work, ceramics, ivory and musical instruments) and the Archaeological Museum - are housed in the fortress (Rocchetta).
Piazza Castello
Tel: (02) 6208 3940.
Transport: Metro Cairoli or Cadorna; bus 43, 57 or 70; tram 1, 4, 12, 14, 20 or 27.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0930-1730.
Admission: Free.
Museo Poldi-Pezzoli
The Poldi-Pezzoli Museum's varied and often exquisite collection of art, furnishings and historic arms was put together by the 19th-century aristocrat, Poldi Pezzoli. Milan's favourite painting (after the Last Supper), Antonio Pollaiuolo's Portrait of a Lady, hangs here. The profile portrait of an elegant and well-attired lady has since become an icon for Milan's own style and elegance.
Via Manzoni 12
Tel: (02) 794 889.
E-mail: info@museopoldipezzoli.org
Website: www.museopoldipezzi.it
Transport: Metro Duomo or Montenapoleone.
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1000-1800.Admission: EUR5 (also with Museo Teatrale alla Scala); EUR7 (with the Museo Bagatti Valsecchi).
Museo Bagatti Valsecchi
The Palazzo Bagatti Valsecchi, built by two brothers in 1883 as their ideal Renaissance household, was only opened as a museum in 1994. Avid collectors of antiques from the 15th and early 16th centuries, they furnished the rooms with their vast collections. The result is a fascinating insight into the mentality of 19th-century Milan, which had just recovered its independence, nostalgically looking back to the days of the Sforza. Highlights of the collection include the fine painting of Santa Giustina by Bellini, the exquisite majolica and Venetian crystal glassware.
Via Santo Spirito 10/Via Gesù 5
Tel: (02) 7600 6132.
E-mail: info@museobagattivalsecchi.org
Website: www.museobagattivalsecchi.org
Transport: Metro Montenapoleone or San Babila; bus 54, 61 or 73 to San Babila; bus 94 to Piazza Cavour; tram 1 to Via Manzoni.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1300-1745.
Admission: EUR5; EUR2.50 on Wed.
Pinacoteca di Brera (Brera Picture Gallery)
Napoleon, whose statue by Canova stands in the courtyard, opened the Brera Picture Gallery in 1809, a collection that was enriched with objects confiscated on his Italian campaigns. Formerly a Jesuit Academy of Science, the Brera's name comes from the meadows in which it once stood. The collection is best known for its Venetian and Lombard masters. Particularly fine are the lyrical Pietà by Giovanni Bellini, depicting the death of Christ, and Mantegna's virtuoso treatment of the same subject, the body foreshortened and viewed from the soles upward. Tintoretto's gruesome depiction of the spirit of St Mark hovering over his cadaver, appearing to the Venetian merchants in the gloom of the Alexandrian catacombs, is hard to miss. Raphael's Wedding of the Madonna and two rare works by the enigmatic Piero della Francesca should also not be overlooked. The Baroque masterpieces include Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus dramatically staging the New Testament scene in a pool of light.
Via Brera 28
Tel: (02) 8942 1146.
Website: http://lettere.unipv.it/brera
Transport: Metro Cairoli or Lanza or Montenapoleone; tram 1, 4, 8, 12, 14 or 27; bus 61 or 97.
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 0900-1930, Sun 0900-1230; Sat until 2300 (Jun-Sep).Admission: EUR4.
Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnica Leonardo da Vinci (Leonardo da Vinci National Science & Technology Museum)
In the city of the Last Supper, interest in the creative genius of Leonardo da Vinci is understandable. Most visitors come to this museum, devoted to the history of science, to see the Leonardo Gallery, with its host of models (both static and functioning) that illustrate da Vinci's intuitive genius. His designs for war machines, flying machines, architecture and production awaken admiration for a man whose ideas, even when not 100% successful (such as the rotating screw, claimed as a precursor to the helicopter), display incredible foresight.
Via San Vittore 21
Tel: (02) 485 551.
E-mail: info@museoscienza.org
Website: www.museoscienza.org
Transport: Metro San Ambrogio; bus 50, 54, 58 or 94.
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 0930-1650, Sat and Sun 0930-1820.
Admission: EUR6.
Civica Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Modern Art Gallery)
The Modern Art Gallery is a treat for lovers of 19th- and 20th-century art. Housed in Napoleon's former summer palace on the edge of the Giardini Pubblici, the extensive collection covers neo-classicism to the modern day. The Impressionists are well represented in the Grassi collection on the second floor, with works by Bonnard, Cezanne, Corot, Renoir, Sisley and Vuillard.
Villa Reale, Via Palestro 16
Tel: (02) 7600 2819.
Transport: Metro Palestro; tram 1 or 2; bus 94.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0930-1730.
Admission: Free.
Basilica de Sant'Ambrogio
Built by Saint Ambrose, the Patron Saint of Milan, and dedicated to the third-century Martyrs Gervasius and Protasius, the original Basilica dates back to the fourth century. The three saints' remains can be seen in a glass case under the main altar. Bishop Ambrose's most famous convert was St Augustine. The Sant'Ambrogio basilica (ninth-12th centuries) is one of Milan's finest churches, a monumental building in the mature Lombard Romanesque style, retaining its early Christian basilica plan based on the architecture of ancient Rome. The chapel of St Victor (Sacello di San Vittore in Ciel d'Oro), at the end of the south aisle, is a vaulted funerary chapel built in the church cemetery in the fourth century. It was lined (in the next century) with superb mosaics, of which that of St Ambrose may be from living memory. The Museo della basilica di Sant'Ambrogio includes paintings, fabrics from the fourth century, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass and mosaics.
Piazza Sant'Ambrogio
Tel: (02) 8645 0895.
Transport: Metro Sant'Ambrogio
Opening hours: Mon, Wed-Fri 1000-1200 and 1500-1700; Tues, Sat and Sun 1500-1700 only.
Admission: Free (Basilica); EUR1.50 (museum).
Il Cimitero Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery)
A few blocks east of Stazione Garibaldi, the Monumental Cemetery may appeal to romantic souls, happy to leave the bustle and grime of Milan's quick and ponder Milan's dead instead. Much of the funerary architecture is rather fine, celebrating the passing of Milan's rich and famous, including Toscanini and novelists Alessandro Manzoni and Salvatore Quasimodo. The Palanti Chapel is more poignant, commemorating the 800 Milanesi killed in Nazi concentration camps. A guidebook available at the entrance indicates the most notable monuments.
Piazzale Cimitèro Monumentale 1
Tel: (02) 659 9938.
Transport: Metro Garibaldi; tram 3, 4, 11, 12, 14, 29, 30 or 33.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0830-1715.
Admission: Free.
