Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
centre of the city and new technologies were invented to cater for the never-before-at-
tempted scale. There was also that small matter of style. The Gothic lines went out of
fashion and were considered 'too French,' so it took on several looks as the years, then
centuries, dragged on. Its slow construction became the byword for an impossible task
(
fabrica del Dom
in the Milanese dialect). Indeed, much of its ornament is 19th-century
neo-Gothic, with the final touches only applied in the 1960s. Crowning it all is a gilded
copper statue of the Madonnina (Little Madonna), the city's traditional protector.
The most spectacular view is through the innumerable marble spires and pinnacles that
adorn the rooftop. On a clear day you can see the Alps.
Museo del Novecento
ART GALLERY
( 02 88 44 4072;
www.museodelnovecento.org
;
Piazza del Duomo 12; adult/reduced €5/3; 9.30am-7.30pm Tue-
Sun, 2.30-7.30pm Mon; Duomo)
Overlooking the Piazza del Duomo, with fabulous views of
the cathedral, is Mussolini's
Arengario
, from where he would harangue huge crowds in the
glory days of his regime. Now it houses Milan's museum of 20th-century art. Built around
a futuristic spiral ramp (an ode to the Guggenheim), the lower floors are cramped, but the
heady collection, which includes the likes of Umberto Boccioni, Campigli, de Chirico and
Marinetti, more than distracts.
Ascend the spiral ramp through chronological rooms, which take you from Volpedo's
powerful neo-impressionist painting of striking workers,
Il Quarto Stato
, through the dy-
namic work of Futurist greats such as Boccioni, Carlo Carra, Gino Severini and Giacomo
Balla, and on to Abstractism, Surrealism, Spatialism and Arte Povera. Aside from the
unique coherence of the collection, it provides a fascinating social commentary on Italy's
trajectory through Fascism, two world wars and into the new dawn of the technological
era.
02 720 9 3814;
Duomo)
, the
www.giacomoarengario.com
;
Via Guglielmo Marconi 1; meals €30-40;
noon-midnight;
;
third-floor
bistrot
overlooking the Duomo.
Teatro alla Scala
OPERA HOUSE
(La Scala;
www.teatroallascala.org
;
Via Filodrammatici 2)
Giuseppe Piermarini's grand 2800-seat
theatre was inaugurated in 1778 with Antonio Salieri's
Europa Riconosciuta.
It replaced
