Italy, full name Italy and China, is a European country, which is mainly composed of the Apennine Peninsula in southern Europe and two islands in the Mediterranean, Sicily and Sardinia. With a land area of 30 1.333 square kilometers and a population of 60.02 million, the Alps in the north are bordered by France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia, and the territory is also surrounded by two tiny countries-San Marino and Vatican.
Milan, known as Mediolanium in ancient Rome, is the second largest city in Italy, the capital of Milan Province and Lombardy, located on the Lombardy Plain. Milan is also one of the world-famous international metropolises, one of the eight metropolitan areas in the world, the most developed city in Italy and one of the four economic centers in Europe (Paris, London, Berlin, Italy), the world capital of fashion and design and the most influential city in the fashion industry, the world famous historical and cultural city, the world opera shrine and the world art capital.
Milan is an important transportation hub in southern Europe with a long history. It is famous for architecture, fashion, art, painting, opera, football and tourism. The GDP of Milan Metropolitan Area accounts for 4.8% of Italy's GDP, and it is the most densely populated and industrially developed area in Europe.
The first thing that catches people's eyes is the alpine snow-capped mountains seen on the plane.
The first day in Milan, I started with an authentic Italian breakfast.
However, as the essence of espresso, this taste is rich and not everyone can get used to it.
Espresso is known as "the soul of coffee". A perfect espresso can brew cappuccino, mocha, latte and other coffees.
Regarding the origin of espresso, it is said that "at the beginning of the 20th century, there lived an engineer who loved coffee near Naples, Italy, but at that time, he only used drip to brew coffee, which was very slow and took a long time to enjoy a small cup of coffee. The impatient engineer was very impatient, so he tried to study a method to shorten the coffee brewing time with high temperature and high pressure, and invented the unique Italian quick coffee conditioning in the world. In memory of this engineer,
Its biggest feature is the connection between fragrance and taste. Generally, the orthodox drinking method is to add sugar, stir it a little, and wait until the temperature reaches the drinkable level before starting drinking. While enjoying the fragrant taste, the intake of caffeine is greatly reduced.
At present, "espresso" has almost become a representative symbol of Italy.
Speaking of the famous scenic spots in Milan, most people naturally think of Milan Cathedral. Milan Cathedral, as the center of Milan, is naturally the most important tourist distribution center. After standing out from DUOMO, there is a "? The magnificent Emmanuel II Gallery (Vittorio Emanuele Square 2) is called Milan living room. The north side of the cloister is similar to the arcade in Guangzhou. There are many famous brand stores such as H&; M, Givenchy, Gucci, etc.
Above the promenade is a steel-framed glass roof, and the two intersecting streets are cross-shaped, with a length of196m from north to south and105m from east to west.
At the center of the octagon is a mosaic depicting four continents of the earth: Europe, America, Africa and Asia. It is said that Giuseppe Mengoni (1829- 1877), the architect who designed this arcade, is very dedicated. Every day, he climbs the high vault to check the quality of the project and see if the process of covering the glass is perfect and harmonious. Finally, one day when the project was about to be completed, I unfortunately fell down and dedicated my precious life to my beloved architectural art. Emanuel Arcade became his masterpiece and was admired by the world.
The floor of the whole corridor is a mosaic pattern paved with marble. The pattern in the middle is the national emblem of the Kingdom of Italy, and the white fork on the red background originated from the Principality of Sava.
It is surrounded by the symbols of four important cities in Italy: the bull in Turin, the female wolf in Rome, the lily in Florence and the Red Cross on a white background in Milan.
In the square in front of the cathedral, flocks of pigeons rise and fall, and the bronze statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, the first Italian king, riding a horse is facing Milan Cathedral? . This bronze statue of riding a horse was carved by Ercole Rosa in 1896, depicting his riding to inspire soldiers to charge in the Battle of Santomartino. Here are four groups of sculptures showing the war. There is a lion sitting in the south and a lion sitting in the north. Beneath the claws are shields and olive branches. There is a bronze wreath in the east.
Vittorio Emanuele II (1820 March 14 ~ 1878 October 9th), Italian: Vittorio Emanuele II. King of Sardinia-Piedmont from 1849 to 186 1 When the Apennine Peninsula was reunified, many different groups could not reach a consensus on the system that should be implemented to reunify the country. One of the suggestions is to establish a confederacy system under the rule of the Pope. But many major revolutionary groups want to establish a republic. In the end, King vittorio Emmanuel II and Prime Minister Gafur mastered the power to unify the monarchy and became the first king after Risorgimento (1861year ~ 1878).
Next is the focus of this trip-Milan Cathedral.
As a famous Catholic church in Italy, it is also known as "Dumo Church", Domo Cathedral and Domo Cathedral. It is the largest Gothic building in the world, one of the five largest churches in the world, the second largest in overall scale in the world, second only to St. Peter's Church in the Vatican, and one of the most influential churches in the world.
In A.D. 1386, the vault was completed in 1500, and the gilded Madonna on the central tower was put in place in 1774. It was finally completed in 1897, which took five centuries.
Milan Cathedral plays an extremely important role in religious circles, and the famous Milan pardon was issued here, which legalized Christianity and became the state religion of the Roman Empire. Here, Leonardo da Vinci bramante drew numerous sketches for him, in order to make the cathedral more magnificent.
Napoleon was crowned in Milan Cathedral in 1805. Leonardo da Vinci invented the elevator for this building. Milan Cathedral is also the main church of the Catholic diocese of Milan and the largest diocese in the world. Milan Cathedral is not only a church and a building, but also a spiritual symbol and symbol of Milan, and a miracle in the history of world architecture and world civilization.
This church is made of white marble, which American writer Mark Twain called "the poem of marble". The whole building is a Latin cross, the length is greater than the width. The length of the church is158m, and the widest point is 93m. Total area 1 1700 square meters, which can accommodate 35,000 people.
The characteristic of this church is its appearance. There are 135 spires, pointed arches, pilasters, flower windows, etc., which pierce the sky like dense Tallinn, and there is a statue of God on each spire. There are more than 2000 statues outside the church, which is very strange. If there are more than 6,000 statues inside, it is the Gothic church with the largest number of statues in the world. Therefore, the church building is particularly gorgeous and lively. This church has a steeple with a height of107m, which was built by Italian architect Bolu Knowles based on15th century. There is a statue of the Virgin Mary at the top of the tower, which is glittering in the sun, dazzling and magical.
The west side of the church is divided into five bronze doors by six huge square columns (buttresses), which are completed from 1896 to 1965. There are many squares on each bronze door, and each square is carved with church history, myths and Bible stories.
The first bronze gate outside the church was completed in 1948, showing the Milan decree issued by Roman emperors Constantine I and Ricini in Milan, Italy in 3 13. This imperial edict declared the freedom of the Roman Empire to believe in Christianity, returned the confiscated church property, and recognized the legal status of Christianity.
Milan's edict was a turning point in the history of Christianity, which marked the change of the rulers of the Roman Empire from a policy of combining repression and tolerance to a policy of protection and utilization, and from a persecuted "underground religion" to a recognized religion. The sculpture on the bronze gate reproduces the scene before the Milan decree was promulgated. Early Christians were persecuted, sentenced to all kinds of horrible punishments, their property was confiscated and they were in a miserable situation.
The second bronze doors is the entrance to visit, made in 1950, and tells the life of Saint-Ann Broggi Ou. The cathedral was formerly a shrine of Milan guarding the sacred Eminem Broggio.
The third largest bronze doors, located in the center, was completed at 1906, weighing 37 tons, depicting the life of the Virgin Mary.
The fourth bronze doors, completed at 1950, tells the history of Milan from the demise of German emperor Frederick II to the battle of Raniano.
The fifth bronze doors, completed in 1965, shows the history of the cathedral since the era of San Carlo Polomayo.
The lobby of Milan Cathedral has obvious Gothic architectural features: the lobby is about 130m long and 59m wide, and the distance between columns on both sides is not large, forming a powerful momentum from the entrance to the altar. Sixty-two huge and towering cylindrical marble columns are arranged in four rows to support an arched roof weighing1.4000 tons, and there are metal bars between the columns. Marble columns form five areas in the church. The small black squares in the picture represent stone pillars.
There are dozens of rows of brown benches in the center of the main hall, arranged in four rows, for believers to sit when praying. The white marble floor is inlaid with black and red marble baroque patterns, realizing the fantasy of the famous Italian painter pellegrino Tibaldi.
After entering the cathedral, the front is the Great Altar, with a "little red dot" above the head of the Great Altar. This is a small red light. It is said that it shines on a nail that nailed Jesus, and this nail is taken down every year to worship for three days. Leonardo da Vinci specially invented an elevator (the predecessor of modern elevator) for this purpose.
Four pillars supporting the central tower around the altar in the hall, each with a height of 40m and a diameter of10m, are made of large granite and covered with marble. 12 smaller column with a total height of 26 meters and a diameter of 3.5 meters. In the middle is the Eucharist niche, and on both sides of the Eucharist niche are the silver statues of Milan guardian saints Carlo and Amber.
Five meters away from the entrance, there is a Capricorn painted on the north wall, called "Pole". The corresponding ground is inlaid with brass strips (that is, warp threads) parallel to the gate.
There is a round hole near the first vault on the south side of the same line. Sunlight shines into the church from the small hole in the south, and the winter solstice (65438+February 2 1) just shines on the "pole" of the north wall. During the summer solstice (June 2 1), it shines at a specific position on the meridian. The specific position is represented by the corresponding constellation on the meridian. In order to let sunlight into the small hole, a gap was left on the stone fence on the south side of the church.
There are many paintings hanging in the church.
Church of Jesus. The wooden cross of Christ was carried by San Carlo during the parade in 1576.
Trivulzio candlestick is 5 meters high and has 7 branches. It is beautifully made. It was donated to the church by Father Giovanni Batista Trivulzio on 1562. It is the work of French craftsman Nicolas da Weldon at the end of 12 century.
The body of the Archbishop of Milan, with a silver mask on his face, is the bishop's real body.
To the south is the altar of Sangiovani Bono, the bishop who led Christianity in Milan.
His achievements are engraved on the left and right six marble bas-reliefs.
There are other altars and sculptures in the south.
There is one of the most famous sculptures in the church-the statue of Saint bartholomew, which depicts the martyred Saint bartholomew. Before Christianity was recognized, saints were skinned alive to preach, and the muscles, veins and bones on the statue were clearly visible. He held the Bible in his right hand and covered his shoulders with his own skin. The saint's expression is not a kind of pain, but a kind of compassion for all beings.
Looking out from the church, there are dozens of large reliefs and hundreds of figures carved on the obelisk in front.
The whole church has six stone steps and two elevators leading to the roof. There are 33 stone bridges criss-crossing the roof, connecting all parts of the roof. When you climb the roof, you can have a bird's eye view of the whole city. When the weather is clear, you can also see the distant Alps stretching all the way to Matterhorn.
At the top of the church, there are 135 Gothic marble minarets, each with a statue, 150 waterways and 4 10 marble supports, all decorated with relief. The steeple stands upright, giving people a feeling of soaring, sublimation and detachment from the world. Lawrence, an English novelist, called the Cathedral the "Central Tower", which is the tallest of all the towers, reaching 108 meters and the highest point of the Cathedral. It was built in the 65,438+05 century by Italian architect Burunoleski.
The Ascension of the Virgin Mary on the central tower was built in 1774. This is a bronze statue, 4.2 meters high. The Madonna is wrapped in more than 3,900 gold leaves and weighs more than 700 kilograms. The whole Madonna shines in the sun, representing love and being a symbol of all Milanese. Like a hedgehog. "
As Christmas is approaching, there is still a Christmas market outside the church. It's quite festive
There are also performances of performance art on the roadside.
Walking along the highway, the building facing us is Santostefano Cathedral, also known as "Milan Bone Church", which is famous for its internal bone bank.
There are many bone churches in Europe, but Santostefano Church is one of the founders. Czech Bone Hall, Polish Bone Hall, Portuguese Bone Hall and Austrian Bone Hall were all built later than it. Tracing back to its history, 1 127, the local people built a hospital for treating leprosy patients and a cemetery for burying the dead patients in front of St. toscano's Cathedral. Later, due to the sudden increase in the number of deaths, there were no more cemeteries, so a hut was built next to the church of 12 10 to store the remains. Later 1269, in order to comfort the dead, a small church was built next to this hut, which is the earliest human bone church.
In 65438+5th century, this church was expropriated by Catholicism, which also became the origin of the name of the church. 1647, the church was renovated for the first time, which was presided over by Carlo Buzz, a designer who participated in the construction of Milan Cathedral. He decorated the walls with the bones of people who died in plagues and famines. In the more than 500 years after the church was built, it was destroyed by war and fire, and it was rebuilt and expanded many times. The present appearance was rebuilt about 250 years ago.
This octagonal church has a baroque altar and two ear halls. You can enter through the small door on the right side of the altar and walk through a dark passage, then you can reach the human bone chapel. Although eerie, there is a beautiful saying that many people can make wishes here, and those who come back to be grateful have posted many vows and love memorials in the passage.
In the small human bones chapel, there are many human bones everywhere. These bones are packed in iron nets and piled up from the ground to the dome. The dome of the church is painted with colorful murals, in which angels are surrounded by happy souls, which seems to mean that people can go to heaven by believing in God after death. The vault painting is bright and bright, in sharp contrast to the gloomy bones below.
Some people speculate that these bones came from the earlier 4th century San Ambo era. Others say that these bones mainly came from plague patients who died in hospitals in the Middle Ages and clergy who managed hospitals. Many of them migrated from nearby cemeteries, as well as death row inmates from prisons. There is also a strange legend. On the Memorial Day of 1 1.2 every year, the soul of a little girl's bones on the altar will wake up and lead all the bones to dance. I feel wonderful and horrible when I think about the picture, and I really admire the strange imagination of westerners.
There is also an unknown church next to the human bone church. Go in and have a look.
After coming out of the church, I continued to walk in the rain in Milan and came to Scala Square.
In the center of the square, flowers are surrounded by statues of Leonardo da Vinci and his four disciples.
Da Vinci Da Vinci (1452.4.15-1519.5.2) is one of the three outstanding figures of the Italian Renaissance and the most perfect representative of the whole European Renaissance. He is a knowledgeable and versatile painter, fable, sculptor, inventor, philosopher, musician, physician, biologist, geographer, architectural engineer and military engineer. He is a genius. On the one hand, he is keen on artistic creation and theoretical research, studying how to express various problems of the body with lines and three-dimensional modeling; On the other hand, he also studied natural science. For a truly touching artistic image, he extensively studied optics, mathematics, geology, biology and other subjects related to painting. There will be no more encyclopedic Da Vinci in the world.
The next stop is the famous monastery of Santa Maria.
Santa Maria Monastery and Church were built by Milan architect solari brothers in 1463. Later, Ludovicos Forza, Duke of Milan, wanted to put the graves of himself and his wife in the church and prepare to expand the monastery. Leonardo da Vinci was attracted by this plan, and another Renaissance master and architect bramante arrived in Milan at the same time. Together, they made Milan, a city full of medieval traditions, a model of Renaissance. They removed the dome behind the church and turned it into a high altar. There is also a dining room, a sacristy room and a square cloister. Leonardo da Vinci painted the oil painting The Last Supper on the north wall of the hall between 1495- 1497. It took leonardo da vinci at least 20 years to finish painting, and it took only 3 years to really start painting and finish it. Become a leader in the whole building group, with a length of 8.85 meters and a height of 4.97 meters. There are three semi-circular skylights above it, and the largest skylight in the middle is decorated with Ludovico's royal badge, because this painting was commissioned by Leonardo da Vinci.
During Christmas, churches put on special clothes one after another. Here is the story of Jesus being born in the stable.
A yard with flowers in spring should be nice.
1On August 5, 943, the church and courtyard were bombed by British and American planes, and most of the dining halls in the courtyard were destroyed, but the wall where The Last Supper was located survived. At present, in order to protect the murals, the monastery limits the number of visitors every day, so the visit needs to be booked in advance.
As for the history of painting, Leonardo da Vinci was 42 years old that year. At that time, he was very poor In order to make a living, he promised the duke to create a religious mural on the north wall of the monastery restaurant.
According to the true situation of the Bible, in the painting, Jesus sat in the center with his hands spread out and said sadly to the 12 disciples around him, "One of you is going to betray me." In an instant, the whole audience was in an uproar, and the expressions of every disciple were truly portrayed, including surprise, panic, sadness, anger and fear.
But the last dinner was not so lucky, and I stayed quietly in the monastery.
1652, in order to expand the doorway, monks dug the foot of the central figure in a painting.
1796, Napoleon I's army invaded Milan, and the monastery turned the canteen into a stable. The soldiers took the heads of the characters in the murals as the target of a stone-throwing competition.
1942 Milan was bombed by the British army in broad daylight, and the monastery was unrecognizable. Fortunately, thanks to the fact that the Italians completely covered the walls with several layers of sandbags, the murals survived. But it also caused some damage to the painting.
So the cultural relics restorers began to repair the painting. On May 28th, 1999, this disastrous last dinner finally faced the audience again.
After leaving the monastery, the next destination is the Sforza Castle where Leonardo da Vinci worked 18.
As an iconic castle in Milan, it is a symbol of the historical vicissitudes of the whole city. Fort sforza was a fortification built by the Vikanti family, the Lord of Milan, in 1368. 1450, the then ruler and Duke of Milan? Sforza I began to rebuild the castle and became the Renaissance mansion of the Forza family, gradually forming its present scale. Later, I began to enrich and beautify the garden decoration to meet the requirements of home making; During the expansion, many artists participated in the design and planning, including Leonardo da Vinci planning water conservancy projects for the functionality of the castle and the mechanical structure of the theater, while Filini, who was born in Tuscany Province, was responsible for the interior decoration. The layout of the castle is exquisite, and you can appreciate the vicissitudes of Milan Principality before and after the Renaissance. The Forza family sponsored almost all the heavyweight artists of the Renaissance, including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
At present, the castle is used as a museum, which is divided into several areas, including ancient art museum, furniture museum, musical instrument and applied art museum.
Walking into the castle, there is an Islamic atrium, from the window to the typical shallow pool. Want to come here must be inextricably linked with the moors. There are short rose bushes in the atrium. The appearance of castello sforzesco is well preserved, with cylindrical fortresses and walls surrounded by high walls. The whole castle is square and flat, with a huge palace garden behind it. There is a moat around the castle, a cylindrical tower observation deck on the front and two wings. The Rokdata tower on the right can be used as an emergency shelter, and its interior is divided into three areas. There is a river in the park behind the castle. Ducks are swimming on the river. There is a small iron bridge on the river, and there is a bronze sculpture of a mermaid holding an oar at the bridge. These concentric locks are tied to the bridge railing.
? In the museum of the castle, you can see ancient sculptures, decorations, utensils, weapons, armor, sarcophagus and other various exhibits.
Among all the exhibits, the most striking is the sculpture "Our Lady of Dagni mourns Jesus". It is said that this sculpture was carved four days before Michelangelo died, when he was 89 years old. This statue vividly depicts the scene in which the Virgin Mary sadly holds the dying Jesus in her hand. Although the work has not been carefully polished and a little rough, it is the masterpiece of this Renaissance artist.
? In addition, there are four images of the Virgin Mary mourning Jesus created by Michelangelo, "Notre Dame Sighing".
Tiffany's manuscript originally contained 62 manuscripts, but now only 55 have survived. It records the list of words that Leonardo studied for a long time, and the source of the words and grammar he recorded. The manuscript not only shows Leonardo's efforts to improve his literary level, but also includes his research on military and religious architecture. After all, when he came to Milan, he became a member of the royal family as a military engineer and architect.
Sala delle Asse is decorated with a mural of a tree painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1498. At present, the rest of the mural has been reproduced in the restoration work. Some scenes in the painting are covered with 17 layers of pigment.
The latest news is that 19 On May 2nd, as one of the important places to commemorate Leonardo da Vinci, the Axis Hall has been reopened to the public.
After seeing the exhibition room, continue to see the rest of the castle.
The last attraction Milan visited was Scala Opera House.
The theater was built in the former site of Notre Dame de Scala in 1778, but was destroyed by air raid in 1943. What we are seeing now is the beautiful neoclassical architecture after the reconstruction of 1946. After renovation from 2002 to 2004, the appearance is still simple.
The interior of the theater is very luxurious, with world-class sound and six-story boxes, which can accommodate more than 2,000 people. When it was rebuilt and reopened, toscanini, who had just returned from new york, gave a series of excellent performances. Rossini, Verdi, Puccini and other masters have successively demonstrated their musical talents on this stage. Scala attracts many musicians with its unique charm. In the world opera history, many famous operas were premiered in Scala Opera House, such as Othello, Madame Butterfly and Turandot. Scala will also be the first choice for operas from many countries to perform in Italy. In a word, high-level composers, performers, singers, conductors, excellent operas, tracks and music performances together with the Opera House constitute all the connotations of this art palace, which is continuously passed down in the space-time corridor of music art culture.
After coming out of the theater, I went to a souvenir shop.
There are many handsome Italians playing the violin by the roadside.
I saw many interesting pieces of paper on the big Christmas tree at the railway station.