Today you will enjoy a half-day visit to one of the most important cities of Italy – Milan. Your English speaking driver will pick you up at your hotel and take you to see the most important monuments of Milan. Your tour will begin with the Castello Sforzesco, the seat of Milan’s ruling family Sforza.
The first nucleus of the Castle was built in 1368 for Gian Galeazzo Visconti for defense purposes and was destroyed in 1447. Between 1450 and 1500 it was rebuilt and enlarged for the Sforza’s – the ruling family of Milan. You will see the inside and outside of this interesting castle which today houses the civic museums. Your walk will continue to the Santa Maria delle Grazie church where you will see the famous “Last Supper” by Leonardo Da Vinci. Next stop on your walk will be the Duomo which you will visit inside as well as outside. The actual cathedral is built on the site of an ancient Celt worshipping place from the VI century BC called “medhelan” or “center of perfection”.
The ancient name from Milan “Mediolanum” is the Latin derivative of this word. The “medhelan” was a sacred forest where a series of terrestrial and astral coordinates came together, creating an ideal meeting place for the druids. During the Roman occupation in the II century DC this area was a residential one. The building of the first cathedral dedicated to Santa Maria Maggiore began in the IV century DC and was designed as a double cathedral with the baptistery incorporated. The Duomo that you will see today, was built by the Visconti family at the beginning of the 15th century. It is considered to be one of the most complex and important Gothic structures in the world and is the second highest church in the world, after the cathedral Beauvais in France and the third largest in the world after Saint Peter in the Vatican and the cathedral of Seville. Your next stop on this interesting itinerary is the Galleria and from here you will be finishing your tour in the Piazza della Scala.
Don’t forget that Milan is one of the most important fashion centers in the world! You will love the shops located in the “Golden Triangle” – Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga and Via Manzoni!
