P94 - Italy - The Milan Cathedral

The Milan Cathedral, Milano, Italy

Milan (Italian: Milano) is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the regional capital of Lombardy. The municipality (Comune di Milano) has a population of 1.3 million, while its urban area is about 4.5 million. The Milan metropolitan area is the largest in Italy, with a population of 7.4 million.

Milan is renowned as one of the world capitals of design and fashion.The English word millinery, referring to women's hats, is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as along via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (reputed to be the world's oldest shopping mall). The city hosted the World Exposition in 1906 and will host the Universal Expo in 2015. Inhabitants of Milan are referred to as "Milanese" (Italian: Milanesi or informally Meneghini or Ambrosiani).

Milan Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Milano; Milanese: Domm de Milan) is the cathedral church of Milan in Lombardy, northern Italy. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi.

The cathedral of Milano is often described as one of the greatest churches in the world. The ground plan is of a nave with 5 aisles, crossed by a transept and then followed by choir and apsis. The height of the nave is about 45 meters, the highest Gothic vaults of a complete church (less than the 48 meters of Beauvais Cathedral that was never completed).

The roof is open to tourists (for a fee), which allows many a close-up view of some spectacular sculpture that would otherwise be unappreciated. The roof of the cathedral is renowned for the forest of openwork pinnacles and spires, sitting upon delicate flying buttresses.

The cathedral's five wide naves, divided by forty pillars, are reflected in the hierarchic openings of the facade. Even the transepts have aisles. The nave columns are 24.5 metres (80 ft) high, and the apsidal windows are 20.7 x 8.5 metres (68 x 28 feet). The huge building is of brick construction, faced with marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated in perpetuity to the cathedral chapter. Its maintenance and repairs are very complicated.

米兰主教座堂通常被称米兰大教堂，坐落于米兰市中心的大教堂广场。据称，是世界第三大的教堂，规模仅次于梵蒂冈的圣伯多禄大殿，但影响却不及西敏寺、科隆大教堂、巴黎圣母院等规模小一些的天主教建筑。

米兰大教堂的建造开始与1386年，历经两个多世纪才完工，因此，它的建筑风格包含了哥特式，新古典式，和新哥特式又称巴洛克式。

教堂的建筑风格十分独特，上半部分是哥特式的尖塔，据统计共138座，最高的尖塔高达108米，顶端有一尊4.2米的圣母玛丽亚像，上镀黄金。下半部分是典型的巴洛克式风格，从上而下满饰雕塑，极尽繁复精美，是文艺复兴时期具有代表性的建筑物。

References sources : wikipedia