My vacation in Milan and Pavia (Italy)

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After my summer 1997 vacation in Basilicata, I had the possibility to go again to Italy for about one week - this time to northern Italy, to Milan (Milano) and Pavia.

If you like to see a photo in better quality (larger), then just click on the pic.

The most famous building of Milan is the cathedral. Because it's built with white marble, it looks more inviting than the much darker cathedral of Cologne, that I know better (compare with my Photos of Cologne).

The cathedral of Milan is, according to its floor space, the third biggest church of the world. Bigger are only the cathedral of Sevilla and, of course, St. Peter in Rome (see also my Photos of Rome).

If you go to the roofs of the cathedral, then you have a very nice view on the "Castello Sforzesco" and on the entrance of the "Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II". I will show you these two sights later on our tour.

If you click on the photo of the Castello (castle) then you will see the mountains of the Alps in the background. Milan is located that way that you can see the Alps on the northern side of the cathedral roofs and the Apenines on the southern side - if the weather is good. But because the sun was on the southern side I could not make a photo to show you here.

Some more impressions from the roofs of Milan cathedral. There it was so warm that I could sit in the sun with T-shirt and jeans. But normally it is much colder in October in northern Italy.

This is the famous "Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II" - with maybe the most beautiful McDonald's of Italy :-)

The Galleria connects the cathedral square with the "Piazza della Scala" and was built about 125 years ago. Most of the cafes and shops are very expensive. But because of the nice glass roofs it always is a place with many people.

Now we have passed the Galleria and we come to the "Piazza della Scala" (Square of the Scala), where you find the most famous opera of the world: the "Teatro alla Scala" (Scala Theater). As you can see on the left photo its outside view is rather insignificant. But in the inner it is much more impressive. I'm sorry that I can't show you here, but it is not allowed to make photos there...

This picture shows you the "Piazza della Scala" from an open window of the Scala (I hope, I was allowed to do that). In the middle of the square you find a monument that shows Leonardo da Vinci and (at his feet) his four Milan students.

A little more outside the center you can visit the "Arco della Pace" (Arc of peace). This time it was not very photogenic. They restaurated the statues and so it was not possible to go to the platform. And the tower for the elevator is in my opinion an example for bad taste in architecture.

The castle ("Castello Sforzesco") could be seen from many parts of the city center. Its origins go back to the 14th century. Today you can visit (for free!) different museums there, that are very interesting. The most famous exhibit of the art museums is the "Pietà Rondanini" of Michelangelo. It's the last and unfinished work of this master.


The other museums also show very interesting exhibitions with very different topics. I had a look at the collection of old historic musical instruments and I also visited the egyptian museum. If the weather were not that good when I was in Milan then I would have spent a second day in the museums...

Before we end our trip, we leave Milan and go to Pavia. It is a nice town with a very old university. Pavia is located some kilometers south of Milan and it is much smaller than Milan, which has millions of inhabitants.

These four photos show the "Certosa" of Pavia - a monastery with a really extraordinary architecture.

The Certosa impresses by its many different looks. Do these four pictures look like one and the same building?

Now we came to the end of our trip to northern Italy. I hope you liked it a little.