The last day in Milan we visited a couple of historical destinations and an aquarium.
We started our day with the breakfast in a local panificcio eating apple strudels and we moved on to the biggest painting collection in Italy. Palazzo Brera, that was built as a Jesuit monastery in the 17th century, hosts a painting gallery, art academy, library and a former astronomical observatory where astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli spent his lifetime observing Mars (the same one with the giant telescope from the previous post).
The Art Academy, that attends more than three thousand students today, was founded by Maria Theresa the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy in 1776.
The gallery was founded in 1806, at the time when Milan was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, founded by Napoleon, so the most important works at that time were collected from occupied French territories. During the 19th century, the collection largely increased by collecting the art from the Lombardy’s churches. That’s why now you can see basically large format paintings with religious motifs.
The gallery keeps and exhibits works from Italian painters of the 20th century, as well as several Picasso paintings, but this department was undergoing some renovations when we arrived, so there was nothing but to stare at the Renaissance art.
I studied art history so I had to visit Pinacoteca, but it’s always interesting for me to see Debeli’s reaction while in an art museum, ’cause he sees things a bit differently than me. While I was analyzing the composition of the paintings or colors Debeli noticed the ‘’unusually large toes of the characters’’ 🙂
At the other end of the Castello, in the corner of Parco Sempione you’ll find a small aquarium. Aquario Civico di Milano is the third oldest in Europe and was built in 1905 for the Milan World’s fair. It’s the only surviving building from the event.
The Aquarium has over a hundred different types of underwater plants housed in several tanks with a special attention for the fishes and aquatic vegetation of the Italian seacoasts, lakes, and rivers.
There’s a statue of the Roman god of water and sea, Neptune, at the entrance, the work of Oreste Labo.
The aquarium works every day except Monday, and the entrance fee is five euros. Really affordable if you compare to some other venues, so make an effort of coming here. Especially to see the balcony of this secessionist building and discover the beautiful hand-painted tiles in Art Nouveau Style or as Italians called it – Stile Florale.
Castello Sforzesco, at the other side of the Park, was built by Milan’s Duke, Francesco Sforza (the same one who made Leonardo paint his Last Supper at the refectory of the monastery church of Santa Maria delle Grazie) in the 15th century on the remains of the old fortress.
The castle has been completely renovated by architect Luca Beltrami, and today you can find several city museums and art collections here.
The first building was made according to the wishes of Lord Galezzo II Visconti in the mid of the 14th century, but the new owners increased the castle to its final appearance, a square with four towers on the corners, two hundred meters long and seven meters thick walls.
A century later, in 1450, the Duke Francesco Sforza moved in and adapted the castle to his needs. He hired a sculptor and architect Antonia Averulina to make the central tower, that is now called Torre del Filarete, after the architects nickname.
Francesco was very generous and broad-minded so he invited numerous artists to decorate the castle, like Leonardo Da Vinci, who painted several rooms in the fresco technique and Bramante who was in charge for the Sala del Tesoro.
The most interesting detail that spans through the whole castle is the coat of arms of the city of Milan (the red cross on the white field) and the blue biscione (viper) that’s consuming the Saracen, which was the coat of arms of the House Visconti who ruled the city for several centuries.
Nowadays you can find this combination as an Alfa Romeo emblem.
Parco Sempione, where the Castello is located, is the largest park in Milan with an area of 38 hectares. It was founded in 1888 and designed by architect Emilio Alemagna whose idea was to create a panoramic view of the most important monuments in the park; Castello, Palazzo dell’Arte and a triumphal arch called Arco della Pace from the late 19th century, but erected on the site of the ancient gate of the city.
As the day was coming to its end, I still had some things on my Milano list, but I decided to prioritize. We saw Pirelli’s skyscraper from the bus the next day, while the so-called Bosco Verticale was seen from far away. Maybe even better. The two residential towers contain over 900 trees on their terraces. But I forgot that the trees look better during the spring or summer when in full bloom and not in winter. It was too sad, even from a safe distance.
Our final destination of the trip was a cemetery. And not just some cemetery. Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb, Croatia is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever seen, but this one is even more monumental.
The Cimitero Monumentale is one of the two largest cemeteries in the city the other being the Cimitero Maggiore. It is significant due to the large number of artistic tombs and monuments.
The cemetery was designed by architect Carlo Maciachini in the 19th century, with the intent to gather a large number of smaller cemeteries around the city.
It’s filled with a wide range of contemporary and classic Italian sculptures, Greek temples, obelisks and works designed by artists such as Lucio Fontana, Arturo Mertini, Dante Parini and some others.
The main entrance is dedicated to the significant inhabitants of the city, like Luca Beltrami, the architect responsible for the reconstruction of Castella and Alessandro Manzoni.
Alessandro Manzoni was a 19th century Italian poet and novelist whose most famous work, a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento (the unification of Italy), is considered to be the first Italian historical novel. I promessi sposi or The Betrothed is set in Lombardy during the Spanish occupation of the late 1620s and tells the story of two young lovers who have gone through all the obstacles just to be together. I would be happy to recommend you a novel, but obviously I was so struck by it that I don’t remember the book. At all 🙂
Hermann Einstein, Albert’s father, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, poet and a founder of the Futurist Movement, Salvatore Quasimodo, the Italian Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Giuseppe Verdi and others, are just a couple of famous names whose owners rest here.
Milano Centrale is the main railway station of the city of Milan and one of the main railway stations in Europe. The building was designed by Ulisse Stacchini whose main inspiration was the Union Station in Washington, DC. The building has no specific architectural style, but is a rather a mixture of many different styles.
The station was opened in 1931. and it’s the most frequent spot in the city. There’s 24 train tracks and over a 120 million passengers in a single year.
What to say at the end? Except that if, when in doubt go to Italy. You will probably experience traffic chaos, bad organisation and worst English accent ever, but the architecture, art, nice weather and glorious food are definitely worth your time.
I could add to this list Italian design and sense of fashion. I don’t remember meeting a bad dressed men or women. They all tend to look decent if not overdressed for the occasion.
Like this old lady, that just went out for shopping but she was wearing long red dress and a short black fur coat. And her hairdo was in line too. It’s either you have style or you don’t. And Italians certainly do 🙂
https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2018-ready-to-wear/versace
MILANO /// treći dio
Posljednji cijeli dan u Milanu proveli smo u razgledu nekoliko povijesno umjetničkih destinacija i jednog akvarija.
Dan smo započeli doručkom u trgovini koja prodaje i poslužuje pekarske proizvode da bi se potom uputili do najznačajnije zbirke slika u Italiji. U palači Brera, koja je u 17. stoljeću sagrađena kao isusovački samostan, smješteni su galerija slika, umjetnička akademija, biblioteka te nekadašnji astronomski opservatorij u kojem je 40 godina proveo astronom Giovanni Schiaparelli (isti onaj s divovskim teleskopom iz prethodnog posta).
Umjetničku akademiju osnovala je Marija Terezija, austrijska carica još 1776. godine da bi ju danas pohađalo preko tri tisuće studenata od kojih je trećina iz drugih zemalja.
Galerija je osnovana 1806. godine, u vrijeme kad je Milano bio glavni grad Kraljevine Italije koju je pomogao osnovati Napoleon, tako da su najvažnija djela u tadašnjoj Galeriji sakupljena s okupiranih francuskih teritorija. Za vrijeme 19. stoljeća kolekcija se znatno povećala zahvaljujući prikupljenim djelima iz lombardijskih crkvi, pa se danas u Breri mogu naći uglavnom slike velikih formata s religijskim motivima.
Galerija čuva i izlaže radove nekih talijanskih slikara dvadesetog stoljeća, kao i nekoliko Picassovih slika, no taj zanimljivi odjel bio je pod renovacijom kad smo mi došli, tako da nam nije preostalo drugo nego nauživat se renesansnih i baroknih mazarija.
Da se razumijemo, ja sam Pinakoteku morala obići, ako ništa drugo kao omaž Cveti i RMBu (kolegij reneasansa, manirizam, i barok), ali su mi uvijek zanimljivije Debelove opservacije kad se nađemo na njemu nepoznatom terenu. Tako dok ja gledam kompoziciju, likove i brojim izvore svjetlosti Debelom su u oko upali ”nezgrapno veliki nožni prsti na nekim od likova” 🙂
Na drugom kraju Castella, na uglu Sempione parka smješten je milanski akvarij. Acquario Civico di Milano treći je najstariji u Europi, a sagrađen je 1905. godine povodom milanske svjetske izložbe te je jedina preživjela građevina s tog događaja.
Akvarij ima preko stotinjak različitih tipova primjeraka podvodnog života smještenih u nekoliko bazena s posebnim naglaskom na floru i faunu talijanske obale, jezera i obližnjih rijeka.
Na samom ulazu nalazi se statua rimskog boga vode i mora, Neptuna, rad skulptora Orestea Labòa.
Akvarij radi svim danima, osim ponedjeljka, a ulaz je pet eurića. Stvarno bagatela za ovakvu zabavu. Pogotovo kad izađete na balkon ove secesijske građevine i otkrijete predivne Stile floreale rukom oslikane pločice.
Castello Sforzesco, koji se nalazi u drugom dijelu parka, sagradio je milanski vojvoda, Francesco Sforza (isti onaj koji je platio Leonarda da mu naslika Posljednju večeru u refektoriju samostana crkve Santa Maria delle Grazie) u 15. stoljeću na ostacima prijašnje utvrde.
Sam dvorac je detaljno renovirao arhitekt Luca Beltrami, a danas se ovdje nalazi nekoliko gradskih muzeja i umjetničkih kolekcija.
Prvotna građevina rađena je prema želji lorda Galeazza Drugog Viscontija sredinom 14. stoljeća, da bi novi vlasnici potom povećali dvorac sve dok mu konačan izgled nije bio četvrtasti tlocrt s dvjesto metara dugačkim zidovima, četiri tornja na uglovima i sedam metarskim debelim zidovima. Zgodna kućica.
Stoljeće kasnije, 1450. godine, u dvorac se uselio Francesco Sforza koji je dvorac prilagodio svojim vojvodskim potrebama. Unajmio je skulptora i arhitekta da mu naprave središnji toranj, koji se danas naziva Torre del Filarete, po nadimku arhitekta Antonia Averulina koji ga je osmislio.
Francesco je bio široke ruke i pogleda na svijet pa je pozvao brojne umjetnike da mu ukrase dvorac. Neka od zvučnijih imena u Sforzinoj kolekciji su Leonardo da Vinci, koji je oslikao nekoliko prostorija u tehnici freske i Bramante koji je ofreskao Salu del Tesoro.
Najzanimljivi detalj koji se provlači kroz dvorac su grbovi grada Milana (crveni križ na bijelom polju) i plava zmija koja proždire Saracena koja je bila zaštitni znak Vojvodine od Milana, a kojom je vladala obitelj Visconti da bi vladavinu stoljećima kasnije preuzeo Vojvoda od Milana, Francesco Sforza.
Inače ova dva znaka ujedinjeno stoje u Alfa Romeo emblemu.
Sempione park, u kojem je smješten Castello, najveći je park u Milanu s površinom od 38 hektara utemeljen je 1888. godine, a dizajnirao ga je arhitekt Emilio Alemagna koji se potrudio stvoriti panoramski pogled na najglavnije spomenike u parku; Castello, Umjetničku palaču i trijumfalni luk nazvan Arco della Pace s kraja 19. stoljeća, ali podignut na mjestu antičkih vrata u grad.
Kako se dan bližio svom kraju, a meni je na popisu ostalo još nekoliko stvari za pogledati odlučila sam se za prioritete. Pirellijev neboder uspjeli smo vidjeti sasvim slučajno sutradan iz autobusa, dok je toliko željeni Bosco Verticale viđen iz daljine.
Uostalom, možda i bolje. Naime stambeni tornjevi, na čijim je terasama posađeno preko devetsto drveća bolje izgledaju u proljeće ili ljeto, a ne za vrijeme zime kad podsjećaju na očerupanu kokoš.
Posljednja postaja na popisu bilo je groblje. I to ne bilo kakvo, već monumentalno. Zagrebački Mirogoj je Belezza, ali ovo je La grande bellezza.
Cimitero Monumentale je jedno od dva veća groblja u gradu (drugo je Cimitero Maggiore), ali ovo je značajno zbog gomile umjetnički izvedenih nadgrobnih spomenika i grobnica.
Groblje je oblikovao arhitekt Carlo Maciachini u 19. stoljeću s namjerom da poveže veći broj manjih raštrkanih groblja po gradu.
Groblje je krcato širokim spektrom suvremene i klasične talijanske skulpture, grčkih harmova, obeliska i radova koje su dizajnirali umjetnici poput Lucia Fontane, Artura Mertinija, Dantea Parinija i drugih.
Na groblje se ulazi kroz grobni prostor posvećen značajnim stanovnicima grada među kojima smo našli grobnicu Luce Beltramija, arhitekta zaslužnog za rekonstrukciju Castella i Alessandra Manzonija.
Alessandro Manzoni bio je talijanski pjesnik i novelist 19. stoljeća čije je najpoznatije djelo, simbol talijanskog Risorgimenta (ujedinjenja Italije) Zaručnici (Ipromessi sposi), inače prvi talijanski povijesni roman. Radnja romana odvija se u Milanu za vrijeme 17.st., a govori o dvoje zaljubljenih koji su prošli kroz sve prepreke samo da budu zajedno. Rado bih vam preporučila roman, ali me se očito toliko dojmio da ga se ne sjećam.
Na groblju su između ostalih pokopani i Hermann Einstein, Albertov otac, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, pjesnik i utemeljitelj futurističkog pokreta, Salvatore Quasimodo, talijanski dobitnik Nobelove nagrade za književnost, skladatelj Giuseppe Verdi i drugi.
Glavni kolodvor Milano Centrale je glavna željeznička stanica u gradu i jedna od glavnih postaja u Europi. Građevinu je, po uzoru na Union Station u Washingtonu, oblikovao arhitekt Ulisse Stacchini s tim da je zgrada eklektična mješavina nekoliko stilova.
Zgrada je otvorena davne 1931. godine, a godišnje ovdje, preko 24 kolosjeka pređe preko 120 milijuna putnika.
Umjesto zaključka možda je najbolje sažeti impresiju ovog milijunskog grada, drugog po napučenosti u Italiji. Vrijeme, arhitektura i hrana su definitivno najbolji plusevi glavnog Lombardijskog centra.
Na popis bih mogla dodati istančani stil za modu i dizajn. Nismo vidjeli nesređenu ženu ili muškarca. Bez obzira na priliku, Talijani puno pažnje posvećuju vanjskom izgledu tako da smo sreli mnoštvo raznoliko i oku ugodno odjevenih Milaneza.
Izdvojila bih stariju gospođu s fotografije koja je uslikana jedno obično radno popodne. Naime, gospođa, ako je suditi po vrećici u ruci, vraćala se iz trgovine, a na sebi je imala dugu bordo haljinu sa šal ovratnikom, crnu kratku bundicu, tip top frizuru, babske šlape i štap kao asesorajz.
Mislim da tu nema puno logike, ili imaš stila ili ne. Naravno, dobro i sunčano vrijeme pogoduje činjenici da se možeš ljepše odjenuti, jer ti skije nisu prvi izbor ujutro, ali opet….boje, uzorci, materijali…poigraj se, ako možeš.
Loše strane ili stvari koje su me instantno naživcirale u Milanu su definitivno prometni kaos, milijun automobila na cesti, nepoštivanje pješaka, bahatost i oholost u prometu, presloženi sustav javnog prijevoza, bijedan engleski ili strahoviti naglasak kojim pričaju te loša organizacija. Što južnije, to tužnije. Ali iz ovih stopa bih ponovno dolje. Možda čak i južnije, jer Sreća je čaša vina i sendvič
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q7GdEpEEhs
