Press "Enter" to skip to content

Piazza del Duomo

The Piazza del Duomo

This is the heart of this concentric city. It has a 17.000 square meters surface and it is surrounded by several buildings on three sides while the fourth one is occupied by the cathedral. At its centre there is the equestrian statue of king Vittorio Emanuele the II, the first king of Italy.

Equestrian Statue
The equestrian statue of king Vittorio Emanuele the II

The two porticos on the right and left side were designed by architect Giuseppe Mengoni in 1865 while the building right next to the Duomo, the Palazzo dell’Arengario, designed by architects Portaluppi, Muzi, Magistretti and Griffini now hosts the Museo del Novecento.

The construction of the Arengario took almost twenty years (from 1937 to 1956) and belongs to the so called fascist architecture (another example of this architectural style is the court of Milan).

Opposite to the cathedral there is Palazzo Carminati which is named after a restaurant that used to be in the piazza. The construction of the palazzo was commissioned by Giacomo Cesati, a wealthy Milanese man, around 1860.

10 Comments

  1. […] second half of the nineteenth century was a crucial period for the city. The whole Piazza del Duomo was subject to a relevant renovation. Architect Giuseppe Mengoni was in charge of the construction […]

  2. Flights to Milan - The MCJ Flights to Milan - The MCJ October 17, 2016

    […] bus #73 in Piazza San Babila, a few steps from piazza Duomo. Tickets (€ 1.50) can be purchased at vending machines at the closest underground station (San […]

  3. […] the Duomo Cathedral. Catch the red line of the underground services and get off at Duomo Station in Piazza del Duomo. Once overground you will be struck by the magnificence of the gothic cathedral that proudly stands […]

%d bloggers like this: