Milan, the fashion capital of Italia
"Frankly, Milan kind of sucks as a restaurant city. It's so fashion-obsessed that people don't pay that much attention to the food." ~ Joe Bastianich
13.04.2015 - 13.04.2015
15 °C
View
Italy and Paris April 2015
on Anja Fourie's travel map.
Where did we stay? Ibis Ca'Granda
Duomo di Milan
At the heart of Milan, is it's beautiful cathedral. The square and area surrounding the cathedral is thought to have been the most important forum in Roman times. In Milan's case, all roads lead to the Cathedral, as all of Milan's streets either radiate from the cathedral or circle it.
The first buildings of the cathedral were built in 1386 and took 6 centuries to complete, only seeing completion in 1965. It is the largest church in Italy, with the largest church in the world being St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.
Climb the steps of Milan's cathedral and walk around on the roof to view some of the amazing spires and sculptures on the roof.
La Scala Opera House
The world famous home of great Italian composers such as Verdi and Puccini. Scala means 'Staircase' in Italian and was named after the church, Santa Maria della Scala (Holy Mary of the Staircase), on which it is built. The peculiar name of this church comes from a mother who placed a statue of the Virgin Mary on her staircase, which she then believed cured her child from illness.
The opera house was opened in 1778 with an opera by Salieri, Mozart's rival. The opera house was closed from 2001 - 2004 to undergo major renovations. It was opened again in 2004 with the same Salieri work as in 1778.
Fashion, fashion, fashion
In the 1980s, Milan became one of the biggest fashion capitals of the world, alongside cities such as New York and Paris, due to the success of Milanese fashion houses such as Armani, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana. In total a whole month a year is dedicated to fashion events such as the Milan Fashion Week. Famous houses such as Valentino, Gucci, Versace, Prada, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana are all headquartered in Milan.
Right off the cathedral square, you will find the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, completed in 1877, and one of the world's oldest shopping malls. The area principally contains luxury shops. In 2012, the McDonalds store in the mall, was denied renewal of their lease after 20 years and replaced with a Prada store. The amazing glass dome of the mall takes inspiration from the domes of cathedrals.
Posted by Anja Fourie 02:02 Archived in Italy Tagged italy cathedral milan dolce gabbana versace la_scala Comments (0)
