Cheap Hotels in Milan

Milan Cathedral

The building of Milan Cathedral first started, in the 1386 and was only completed in 1965. It was the archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo, who first started work on the Cathedral. His cousin, Gian Galeazzo had just been accepted as head of the church, and as a reward the new cathedral would be built.

The people of Milan were enthused, For the building and workers gathered in the hundreds to help. A strict construction program was soon put in place by called the Fabbrica Del Duomo.

This allowed the builders, to have exclusive use of marble from the Candoglia quarry, ahead of any other building projects. Furthermore, the price of marble was exempt from taxes, under the Fabbrica Del Duomo law.

In 1389, the French engineer Nicolas de Bonaventure, was brought in to the project. It was his input, which gives the Cathedral its strong Gothic imprint. Ten years on, another French man, architect Jean Mignot was added to the work force.

His technical experience was needed, with lifting stones to unprecedented heights. In 1402 Gian Galeazzo died, but work had proceeded well on his project, and the cathedral was half completed.

However shortly after his death, work almost ground to a halt, due mostly to lack of funds. Work finally began, again in earnest in 1480, before this date some notable work though, had been completed. In 1424 the tombs of Marco Carelli and Pope Martin V were completed. In 1452 the naïve and its isles, up to the sixth bay were completed.

From the years 1500 till 1510 under the guidance of Ludovico Sforza work on the cupola was finally completed. The cupola was decorated with a series of statues, which portrayed saints, prophets and other characters from the bible. In 1552 the cathedral commissioned Giacomo Antegnati to build a organ for the north side choir.

Between the years 1575 - 1585 new altars and the baptistery were added in the naïve area. At the beginning of the 17th century the foundations of the facade were laid. Work on the new facade continued until the year 1638 with the construction of the two middle windows, and of five portals.

But ten years later, under orders from the new architect Carlo Buzzi, he ordered the facade to revert back to the original Gothic style. It was in the year 1762, which one of the main features of today`s cathedral the Madonninas spire was erected.The spire was designed by Francesco Croce and stands 108.5 meters high.

The Milan Duomo is one of the main attractions, for visiting the city today. The Duomo is rightly so, the centre piece of this fantastic city, and should be seen by all. For those visiting in the future, many cheap hotels in Milan can be found, close to the Duomo.