Milano Il Duomo: as seen by Mark Twain
Mark Twain, a great fan of the Duomo di Milano, can take over the description (from Innocents Abroad) from here:
What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems... a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!...
The central one of its five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures-- and the figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without exhausting its interest...everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a marble statue, and every statue is a study in itself...
Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted spires
spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky
beyond. ...(Up on) the roof...springing from its broad marble flagstones,
were the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but
diminishing in the distance...We could see, now, that the statue on the top
of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from
the street...
They say that the Cathedral of the Duomo of Milano is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands.
© 1997-2010 Enrico Massetti
TangoItalia - Food, Wine, Travel, and... tango in Italy.
Visit Milan:
an introduction
Il Duomo
Piazza Duomo
Duomo-Twain
Galleria
Cenac. Leonardo
Cast. Sforzesco
La Scala Theater
Sant'Ambrogio
Milan art & shop
Milan by foot
Milan two days
Eating out
One day trips
Chiaravalle
Traveling to
Traveling around
Near Milan:
Monza
Vigevano
Pavia
- Certosa
Varese
Varese sport
- Villa Panza
- Villa Bozzolo
Franciacorta
- food & wine
Milan Region
Milan food
Milan wine