Milan Cathedral Rooftop Terrace, Milan

With the early morning rain easing just enough for us to venture out, our first stop today was to the Milan Cathedral or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary. Dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan.

With construction starting in 1386, the cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete and the final details were completed in 1965. It is the largest church in the Italian Republic (the larger St. Peter's Basilica is in the State of Vatican City, a sovereign state) and the third largest in the world.

Even though we have visited the rooftop terrace on a previous visit we decided to visit again. With 256 stairs to climb we opted for the lift up but took the stairs down. Thankfully the rain held off while we admired the 135 spires, the 150 gargoyles or water spouts, 96 giants and many of the 3500 plus statues adorning the rooftop terrace. I just love the gargoyles in all their different shapes and forms and am amazed at the detail and artistry of the whole structure.

The first level of the terrace is around 45 metres high and the higher terrace at 65 metres, so you could image how amazing the views would be, however we had to image too as the visibility from the bad weather was not good. Thankfully we did get to enjoy and admire the amazing architecture and stonework. The amount of detail and the quantity of statures and adornments is just amazing and it is easy to understand why it took six centuries to complete it.

We took our time enjoying the experience for as long as possible before heading down the stairs to see the interior of the Cathedral.Read more