Milan is not only successful shopping! The people themselves make this city an open-air store: rabid shopaholics chasing fresh collections, conservative ladies from the post-Soviet space who love to stock up on sales with a vengeance, young girls obsessed with brands … And, really, there is nothing wrong with that. However, one should not forget about the other, architectural and picturesque side of Milan. What? Do you generally dislike Milan? You just haven’t read our story about him yet!

So, how can Milan surprise a traveler who does not have a gold card in his pocket and hates shopping from the word at all?

Milan white stone

If Milan started with its famous Duomo and they would have ended, it would still be worth going here. There is not so much Gothic in Italy (read: not enough!), And the snow-white, like vanilla gelato, Milan Cathedral with its flamboyant spiers (“flaming Gothic”) pierces the heart of an admiring tourist through and through. The cathedral seems to dig into the sky with its sharp teeth, passionately wanting to tell us about the invisible. Take the time and money to climb to the top of the cathedral, and not so much for the view from it, but in order to be in close proximity to the details of the Duomo. After all, up there, you can practically feel all these pinnacles with phials and crabs, the “spiky” floral ornament that stands out in volume on the walls, get close to the numerous statues that adorn the cathedral … All the splendor of human thought and feeling lies in this artfully deified marble.

A couple of facts for those who do not like lyrics, but respect numbers: Milan’s Duomo is the third largest cathedral in Europe (after St. Peter’s in the Vatican and St. Paul’s in London), and its walls are decorated with about 3,500 sculptures. Must see!

Milan architectural

But Milan is not alive and glorious by the cathedral alone. While in Piazza del Duomo, take a look at  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele . But not in order to run headlong to the boutiques (although who forbids you) – appreciate the architectural appearance of the gallery leading you from the Cathedral Square directly to the La Scala Theatre. The gallery’s mosaic floor is sure to grab your attention. Be sure to look for the coat of arms of Turin, which depicts a bull, among the coats of arms of Italian cities. It is necessary to become this very bull in a causal place and spin around its axis, making any wish. They say everything is fulfilled!

After examining the gallery, do not rush to run further, because the Cathedral Square is surrounded by more than one masterpiece of architecture: here is  the Palazzo Arengario (now there is a museum of art of the twentieth century), and  the Palazzo Carminati , as well as the North and  South Palazzo  and, finally, the Royal Palace (in it now the Museum of Modern Art and the Duomo Museum).

Another of the most important architectural symbols of Milan can be safely called Sforza Castle , which stands on Piazza Castello. The castle was built in the 14th century, and for almost 7 centuries it suffered a lot from wars, coups and its owners. Fortunately, a skillful restoration in the middle of the last century helped Castello Sforzesco to take on its present appearance, complete and majestic. Entrance to the territory of this beautiful “Milan Kremlin” is free, and literally every bench distributes Wi-Fi on the territory next to it. Isn’t that enough to fall in love with Milan? 

And on the square near the castle rises the notorious fountain “Wedding Cake”. If you throw a coin into this “cake”, the fountain will fulfill any of your desires regarding amorous affairs. Naturally, the more complex the desire, the higher the value of the coin should be!

Milan religious

Italy is not Italy without many churches, chapels and basilicas. A striking example of the Romanesque style in architecture is the second largest temple in Milan, namely the Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio . This early Christian church (dated to the 4th century AD) has a unique gilded altar from the 9th century depicting scenes from the life of Jesus Christ.

The Church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro (XV century) is interesting for the peculiar design of the apse. It seems to the viewer that the columns rush deep into about ten meters of commercials, but in fact this is just an optical illusion: the apse deepens by less than a meter.

The Church of San Gottardo (XIV century) near the Duomo differs from other churches, firstly, by its red-brick walls, which are not typical for Milanese construction, and secondly, by its neo-Gothic character, again not typical for Italian churches.

A real gem is the Church of San Maurizio al Maggiore (XVI century)! You must enter here: from the inside, the walls are completely painted with frescoes by Italian artists. No wonder this temple is called Milan’s “Sistine Chapel”.

On Piazza Santo Stefano, in the southeast of the Duomo Cathedral, there is the most curious chapel of San Bernardino (the exact address is via Carlo Giuseppe Merlo, 4), which must be mentioned separately. Its unusualness is that it is … a chapel-ossuary. In the middle of the 12th century, there was a hospital near the church of St. Stephen, and everyone who died in this very hospital was buried in the church cemetery. Medicine in the Middle Ages was, frankly, so-so, so by the beginning of the 13th century there was not enough space in the cemetery. Then it was decided to act very simply – to build a separate room for storing bones, and in 1269 a separate church was erected. In general, today the ossuary welcomes everyone (visitors, of course), attracting guests with frescoes on the ceiling and bones on the walls.

Milan cultural

Inside the Sforza Castle there are now numerous museums , which you can visit for 3 euros, and on Friday afternoons, absolutely free of charge. And there, for a moment, you will find a museum of ancient art, a pinakothek, an archaeological museum, a collection of applied arts and many more different halls where you can see masterpieces from famous people. For example, in the Museum of Ancient Art there is the last sculpture by Michelangelo – “Pieta Rondanini”, which remained unfinished, because its author accidentally died. Oh, and one more thing: walking around the castle, do not miss the famous Trivulzio tapestries, which symbolically depict all the signs of the zodiac.

In general, to admire famous paintings in Milan, they go to  the Brera Pinacoteca and  the Ambrosian Pinacoteca . There you will find Rembrandt, and Botticelli, and Titian, and Caravaggio … But the creations of Picasso, Monet, Modigliani and Renoir you will find in  the Gallery of Modern Art . Entrance to this gallery is free, which is good news.

But the most important cultural gestalt to close while in Milan is seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper . This relic is located in the museum next to the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. A very important point: tickets there are sold only via the Internet, and they are sold out very quickly and very early. So, when planning your trip to Milan, first make sure you see the famous fresco, and after that, book a hotel and make a shopping list.

If your love of art extends to music, try getting a ticket to  La Scala . Just do not pass by the theater itself: contrary to the expectations of tourists, La Scala looks very modest from the outside. Landmark – a monument to Leonardo da Vinci on the piazza next to the theater.

Milan picturesque

Just 40 km north of Milan, Lake Como stretches freely, like a cat in the sun.. Beautiful in its own way at any time of the year, this lake has one foot in Italy, and the toe of the other points towards Switzerland. The neighborhood of the water surface with the Alps gives rise to a landscape that you want to devour with your eyes all the time, because it is impossible to get enough of them. The picture seems unreal, photoshopped, because it is impossible, nature, to be beautiful like that. Virgil lived on the coast of Lake Como, and Leonardo da Vinci did not disdain to work and relax along these shores. Lake Como starred in the second part of “Star Wars” and the next series of Bond films “Casino Royale”. You need to go here when you are tired of secular noise, because here you will be waited for by transparent, like water in a lake, silence and weightless, like mountain air, calmness. A handful of architectural sights fade against the background of juicy and ruddy, like an Italian child, local nature. It remains only to choose a villa and spend here one of the best holidays of your life.

Milan is not the northern capital of Italy, not the center of world fashion and not a shopping mecca. This is an artsy Italian mirror that will show you exactly what you want to see in it.

Milan is not only shopping