I’ve seen it called both – “the Sistine Chapel of Lombardy” and “the Sistine Chapel of Milan”; Lombardy being the region, and Milan (“Milano” in Italian) being the city, of course.
Our hour long train from Verona to Milan was only remarkable for two reasons, so I shall remark on them both. First, we took our first car rides of the trip – to the Verona train station (the walk was a bit boring and a bit unsafe from the train station, so we didn’t want to repeat it) and from the station in Milan to our hotel. I had hopes of going sans car on the trip, but a man’s got to know his limitations, so we did cab it.
The Milano Centrale train station is the other part of the trip worth remarking on. One aspect of the station was just how crazy crowded it was mid-morning. Our train pulled into the station at the same time as a train on the other side of the platform pulled in. Thus, we had two full trains unloading at the same time, and gaining ground toward the station was hard work. At that same time, people were trying to get to the platform to catch their trains. Too many people were crammed into too little space – creating a blob that barely moved.
Even once in the station it was hard to move about. It also made it hard to spend as much time looking at the 1931 station, built by fascists for fascists in the fascists architecture style. Think of Soviet architecture, but instead built to please Mussolini. To be fair, it is at least interesting.
Milano Centrale station is vast. As Rick Steves writes, “notice how the monumental halls and art make you feel small – emphasizing that a powerful state is a good thing.”
Anyhow, we were able to get right into our spacious hotel room in Case Baglione. It even had a balcony (no view, as tall plants gave us a nice bit of privacy). After freshening up, we headed out to the Church of San Maurizio al Monasterio Maggiore to see the “Sistine Chapel” of Northern Italy.
Built around 1500, the frescoes were painted by Bernardo Luini, a disciple of Leonardo da Vinci. The frescoes cover the church walls, as well as the Hall of Nuns. A small door leads into the large-sized hall, where the sisters of the cloth could worship apart from the general congregation. A large opening along the ceiling allowed them to hear the worsthip service.
Luini did many scenes, and his use of landscapes as focal points were groundbreaking, as he was the first to make landscapes the main subject of many of his paintings.
It’s not quite the Sistine Chapel, but what is, other than, well, you know, the Sistine Chapel. But it’s still pretty darn good.
I made a mistake at the end. We didn’t go into the archaeological museum that is part of the church, because we didn’t want to spend the five euros to see a church museum. Where I blew it is that the museum houses part of the old city wall, and a third-century Roman tower. You gotta view Roman stuff whenever you can.
Anyhow, we were quite taken with the church. So much so, that the next day, on our way to other places, we decided to stop in again (it’s free!). I felt like we had made a mistake on the first visit. We went through into the Nun’s Hall without looking closely at the whole of the church. So, we did it again, which tells you it’s clearly a stop to make in Milan.
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