In the late summer I gave a shot at my fantasy of climbing the Matterhorn, a dramatic looking peak that sits on the border of Switzerland and Italy. Since flights to Switzerland were much more expensive than Italy, I decided to take a detour to Milan and from here take a train to Zermatt. Initially I didn’t have any plans to visit Milan, but since I was already here I ended up spending a fair amount of time exploring the city. My first photo is of one of the most famous landmarks in Milan, the Duomo Cathedral.
I didn’t go inside the Duomo Cathedral and now I realize what a mistake that was! There I was standing in front of the largest church in Italy and one of the largest in the world, and I didn’t make it inside. I think I was taken back by its beauty on the outside and overlooked getting in line. It goes without saying this is one of the most amazing religious structures on earth. Construction began in the late 14th century and continued for centuries. There’s an incredible amount of detail covering the cathedral, including statues like the one above. Since I didn’t summit the Matterhorn due to bad weather, there’s a good chance I’ll return to Milan and this time make sure I enter the cathedral.
The Duomo Cathedral is located in the heart of Milan. This area is made up of several cobbled streets lined with restaurants and shops. There’s a ton of people here and it’s a very lively area. Many of the buildings are historic, although there are plenty of modern ones mixed in as well. Above you can see some of the busy pedestrian streets in Milan, with one of the city’s large fountains below.
Most of the shops in downtown Milan seemed to be upscale clothing and home decor stores. I didn’t check out the prices, but my assumption is they were pretty expensive. These photos show some of the shops I passed while walking down one of Milan’s main streets.
These next two photos from the downtown area show some of the street entertainers. With so much foot traffic you’ll come across entertainers on nearly every block. This guy above seemed to have an angry resting face, until I dropped a small tip in his jar and then he was all smiles. Perhaps he was mad that the genie below was getting all the attention.
Milan is a beautiful city with several distinct neighborhoods. This one with the tree-lined streets was my favorite. It reminded me of Mendoza, Argentina, and as a matter of fact, if I hadn’t taken this picture myself I could have easily believed it was from the same city. Below you can see the entrance to some luxury apartments in the same area of Milan.
While the vast majority of Milan seemed to be at minimum pretty nice, I did wander into a rougher looking residential area. Even here things were relatively clean and I never felt unsafe. I was actually pretty surprised to see that people had decided to spray paint some of these residential buildings.
Somewhere during my long walks through the city I decided to take a break and have some coffee. I always think of Italy as being famous for its coffee, so I was surprised to find this American-style coffee shop in Milan. I kind of figured they’d be so proud of their own coffee that American coffee would have been shunned.
Other parts of the city were older with some interesting architecture. I never figured out what this building above was, but it looked like a ridiculously expensive residence. I saw several other buildings with similar designs in the same neighborhood.
Another favorite area of the city was where some of Milan’s older structures could still be seen. The photo above shows one of the older streets in the city, while below you can see one of Milan’s trams passing through a historic gateway.
Porta Sempione occupies the site of an older gateway into Milan. The current monumental arch dates to the 19th century, with construction beginning during the Napoleonic era and eventually being completed decades later.
Another famous ancient site is the Colonne di San Lorenzo. These Roman columns date back to the Roman era and were moved to their current location centuries ago. The main row is made up of 16 columns, and today the area seems to be a popular place to meet friends or just sit around and listen to music. These girls below were doing exactly that. I don’t think there was an empty seat along the entire row.
The columns face the Basilica of San Lorenzo, so as I passed them I saw this dramatic mural just a few hundred feet away. I did enter and photograph the basilica, but unfortunately didn’t take any photos worth posting!
Perhaps one of the most important churches in the world when it comes to art is Santa Maria delle Grazie. The church is famous for being home to Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Sadly I wasn’t able to get a photo of the painting, so if you want to see it you’ll have to visit Milan for yourself.
Elsewhere in the church I was able to take photos. Above is the church nave, while below is one of the smaller rooms that houses some artwork. I thought the painting looked fairly old, although I’m certain it wasn’t painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
My last photos are from Milan’s Sforza Castle. This 15th-century castle was once one of the largest fortifications in Europe. It’s definitely one of the largest castles I’ve ever seen in my life. Even the massive walls and entrance were incredible. I liked the entrance so much I had to post a rare second photo of it below.
I’m not sure what these polished stone balls were, but there was a large pile of them outside the castle. If you look closely you can see a cat that nearly matches the color of the stones. I took this photo with my zoom all the way in and didn’t even notice the cat until I had gotten home!
I should have taken more pictures to show just how massive the castle is and how much it contains. There are multiple museums throughout the castle complex covering art, archaeology, history, and other collections. Despite all the information here, I’ve still never figured out exactly who the bust below represents. It was one of the first things I came across after entering the castle.
While this place is essentially a giant castle full of museums, there are also plenty of green spaces around the fortress, making it a nice place to relax or go for a walk. I had spent so much time walking through Milan that I enjoyed hanging out by this pond for a while. Here I got my only two wildlife shots from Italy on this trip, this duck above and the turtle below.
