Words Fail Me

In August of 1944, fifteen members of the Italian resistance movement were shot here in the Piazzale Loreto—in retaliation for their attacks against the Fascist regime and for Allied bombing raids—and their corpses left on display.  At that time, Benito Mussolini was said to have remarked “for the blood of Piazzelle Loreto, we shall pay dearly.”

The place now looks nothing like it did on 29 April 1945 when the corpse of Mussolini himself was displayed here alongside other executed Fascists, hung upside down on meat hooks.

On the north side of piazza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which was built in the 1860s.  The arcade is all luxury & haute couture shops (which seem more natural here in Milan than in the odd, contemporary malls in Shanghai.)

The Piazza del Duomo stands in front of Milan’s cathedral and has a monument to Victor Emmanuele II, first king of the united Italy.I imagined this marble lion roaring in rage over the indignity of being swarmed by pigeons.

The majestic interior of the Duomo di Milano.The repeating patterns of the marble floor was another reminder of Escher.Light through the stained glass window, cast onto the pillar.  Sublime.But I was also reminded of the macabre preoccupations of the Catholic church, like this ghastly statue of the flayed St. Bartholomew……or the corpse of a former archbishop.  This reminded me of other mummies I’ve seen on display and how I feel increasingly conflicted about the propriety of displaying human remains.

Milan’s cathedral looks different from many other cathedrals in Italy.  Being so far north, there was a heavy Gothic influence on Milan.  (I’ve read that “gothic” was a Renaissance era slur for any art influenced by the “barbarian” north.)
The eye is certainly drawn heaven-ward.The design reminded me of M.C. Escher‘s “drowned cathedral” which I had on a tshirt as a kid.

The view looking north toward the Alps from my hotel room window.

Milan’s famous & award winning Bosco Verticale (“vertical forest”) residential towers, framed by a ground-level tree which must feel terribly left out.

Remember when I mentioned I hadn’t done my research for this trip?  Well, this is the Arco della Pace (“Arch of Peace”) at Porta Sempione, which is the city gate that marks the road from Milan through the Alps to Paris.  Because apparently at one point, the Duchy of Milan was taken from the Hapsburg of Austria by Napoleon?

Oh, and I also stumbled on this place:  Castello Sforzesco.  Apparently, the House of Sforza ruled the Duchy of Milan before it reverted to King Philip II of Spain, for some reason, and remained in the hands of the Hapsburg of Spain until the War of Spanish Succession when it was invaded by the Hapsburg of Austria.I hadn’t realized how poor my grasp of Continental history was before, say, World War I.  Normally, I would have this all straight in my head before visiting a place.  Genuinely embarrassed of myself.

Yes, so, here’s the thing:  I didn’t do my due diligence for this trip.  I’ve been emotionally & mentally distracted by work and I just didn’t do my usual travel research.  (This has notably happened once before.)  Anyway, I went to Santa Maria delle Grazie to see Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.  These photos are from outside.  Because I couldn’t get in.  Because there’s a two week wait for ticket reservations.  Because I didn’t research things ahead of time.Whatever.  I hated that Dan Brown book anyway.

Arrived at Milano Centrale.  Europe knows how to do train stations.