Milan Attractions

Venue: Il Duomo (the Cathedral)    When: Daily

Not only did Milan's incredible cathedral take more than 500 years to build, it is also the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and boasts Europe's largest sundial.

Started in 1386 and finished in 1887, the marble building dominates Milan's central square. The prosperity of Lombardy's capital (the city has been for centuries a gateway to the Alps) can be read in the cathedral's size as well as in its immensely detailed and florid workmanship.

The building boasts 135 spires and the facade is adorned with more than 2000 stone sculptures. The interior is no less arresting. Five enormous naves separated by finely-worked stone pillars are framed by a series of beautifully worked stained-glass windows. The apse is the oldest part of the church, where three rose windows designed by Filippino de Modena reveal the complexity of the 14th-century stonework.

England's Italophile Romantic poet, P B Shelley visited the Duomo in April 1818 and proclaimed to whoever would listen that it was the best place in the world to read Dante! Whatever you decide to do there, make sure you take in this hugely atmospheric church and if possible arrive in time for a service to experience its full glory.

Features to keep an eye out for include Perego's Madonnina, which rests on top of the highest spire of the cathedral and has done so since 1744. Note the neoclassical central bronze doors designed in 1906 by Lodovico Pogliaghi, and make sure you catch a glimpse of the duomo's most holy relic - a nail from Christ's cross, housed inside a large crucifix which hangs suspended above the chancel. Once a year, on the Feast of the Cross, it is the focus for an extraordinary ceremony....

Do take the time to go and see the roof terraces, where you can examine the Duomo's spires and statues while enjoying a breathtaking view of Milan and, on a clear day, the snow-capped mountains of the Bergamo Alps.

There is also a museum which documents the different phases of the cathedral's construction and houses casts of the numerous sculptures which adorn the facade.