My Profile
Active Members
TodayLast 7 Days
more...
Awards & Gifts
Online Exams
Fresher Jobs
Our fresher job section is exclusively for fresh graduates! Find jobs for freshers in major Indian
cities including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune or Kochi
Resources
Find educational articles, blogs, discussion threads and other resources.
Colleges
Find details about any college in India or search for courses.
Advertisements
|
Milan Cathedral
Posted Date: 23 May 2008 Resource Type: Articles/Knowledge Sharing Category: Travel & Tourism
|
Posted By: TULASI KRISHNA Member Level: Gold
Rating:  Points: 2
|
|
|
Milan Cathedral
Milan Cathedral, late-Gothic cathedral in the northern Italian city of Milan. In area it is the largest cathedral in the world after St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It was built on a site occupied earlier by Roman baths, and then by the octagonal baptistery in which St Ambrose baptized St Augustine in 387. Construction of a new cathedral on this hallowed site began in 1386, under the patronage of the ruling Visconti family. Masons and other craftsmen were brought together from the Low Countries, Germany, and France. By 1418 the high altar had been consecrated, with Pope Martin V presiding over the ceremony. Work proceeded continuously for the next 150 years, by which time the main structure and internal features were completed. Towards the end of this period the works were under the direction of Pellegrino Tibaldi (who later worked on El Escorial); he was responsible for the presbytery, the pavement, and the original, Baroque-style façade. The solemn dedication ceremony of the cathedral was conducted by St Charles Borromeo in 1577, in the midst of an outbreak of plague. Work on the external decoration, on the 3,600 statues both inside and outside the cathedral, and on the façade, continued at a slower pace for the following two centuries. Napoleon, following his invasion of Italy, then brought about the completion of the façade between 1805 and 1813. Finally, in 1886, an international competition resulted in a plan to remodel the stonework on the façade to conform to the Gothic style of the rest of exterior (as well as to the neo-Gothic tastes of the time). Following damage during World War II, restoration work began in 1960, concluding at the 600th anniversary of the cathedral in 1986 with the dedication of a new altar. The cathedral is in the traditional cruciform shape with a high nave and lower aisles, but this is disguised both by the wide, false-fronted façade on the west side (68 m/223 ft wide and 62 m/204 ft high) and by the huge profusion of spires, statues, and stonework filigree on all the church’s elevations and along its buttresses. The central spire above the crossing, surmounted by a statue of the Madonna 4 m (13 ft) high, appears small in proportion to the building as a whole, but in fact reaches a height of 108.5 m (356 ft). The cathedral’s external length is 158 m (518 ft) and its greatest width, across the transepts, is 93 m (305 ft). Inside, the severe, massive columns contribute to the immense sense of space in the nave, 45.5 m (149 ft) high. The apse at the east end is dominated by three great windows, the largest in the cathedral. The original stained glass survives in 55 of the cathedral’s 164 windows. The presbytery contains Tibaldi’s intricately carved wooden choir stalls, and beneath it the crypt houses the treasures and relics of the cathedral, as well as the coffin of Borromeo.
Milan Cathedral
Standing in the centre of Milan in the Piazzo del Duomo, the city’s cathedral is one of the largest in the world. Work started on the cathedral in 1386, and the last of the relief work on the doors was finished in 1965. Inside are many notable works of art, including some 3,600 statues.
|
Responses
|
No responses found. Be the first to respond and make money from revenue sharing program.
|
|
|