Duomo di Milano

The Duomo is the reason Milan has a centre at all. Work began in 1386 under the Visconti lords, and the cathedral then took the better part of six centuries to finish: Napoleon pushed the facade to completion in the early nineteenth century so he could be crowned King of Italy inside, and the last bronze doors were only fitted in the twentieth. The result is the largest Gothic church in Italy and one of the largest churches anywhere, built from the pale, pink-veined marble of Candoglia on Lake Maggiore, which was floated to the city along the canals that still run to the Navigli. The Veneranda Fabbrica, the body founded to build the cathedral in the fourteenth century, still looks after it today, quarrying the same marble to replace weathered stone. Outside, the building is a stone forest of 135 spires, flying buttresses and more statues than anyone has counted twice (the usual figure is well over three thousand), crowned by the gilded copper Madonnina, Milan's protector, on the highest spire. Inside, the five-aisled nave is vast and dim, lit by some of the biggest stained-glass windows in Christendom; look for Marco d'Agrate's disturbing statue of St Bartholomew wearing his own flayed skin like a stole, the brass meridian line set into the floor near the entrance, and the red light high above the apse that marks where a nail said to be from the Cross is kept. Below the square, the archaeological area shows the foundations of the older baptistery where St Ambrose is said to have baptised St Augustine. The highlight for most visitors, though, is the roof. The terraces let you walk among the pinnacles, gargoyles and statues, along the sloping marble roof of the nave, with the Madonnina above you and, on clear days, the Alps on the horizon.

Tickets are the first decision. The cathedral, the terraces, the Duomo Museum in the Palazzo Reale and the archaeological area are sold separately or in combined Duomo Pass tickets, with the terraces available either by stairs (around 250 steps up a narrow spiral) or by lift for a few euros more. Timed tickets let you pick an entry slot, and fast-track versions sold through reputable platforms such as Tiqets get you through a separate, shorter queue. Security screening is the real bottleneck at busy times: the line can take half an hour or more in the middle of the day and is often much shorter in the first hour after opening. Large backpacks and luggage are not allowed. The dress code is enforced at the door, for the cathedral and the terraces alike: shoulders and knees must be covered, so carry a scarf or light layer in summer. Opening hours are long, but the cathedral closes to visitors for some services, so Sundays and religious holidays are best avoided for sightseeing.

How to see it well: go early, starting with the cathedral itself while the light comes through the eastern windows, then head up to the terraces before the midday crowd. On the roof, the route runs along the side of the building, up to the walkway over the nave and back down, and it takes about forty-five minutes at a gentle pace. The views are best on cold, clear winter mornings, when the mountains appear behind the city, and at sunset, when the marble turns gold; the terraces close in very bad weather. If you can, add the Duomo Museum, which holds the original statues and models taken down from the building over the centuries, including the full-size copper frame of the Madonnina, and is far quieter than the cathedral. Children love the roof, but keep an eye on them on the stairs and narrow walkways.

Around the cathedral: the Piazza del Duomo is the city's living room, with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II opening off its north side, the Palazzo Reale on the south and the Arengario, home of the Museo del Novecento, on the corner. For the best elevated view of the cathedral itself, rather than from it, the Novecento's top-floor windows and the rooftop terraces of the department store and bars around the square face the facade directly. Combine the Duomo with the Galleria and La Scala in a single morning; all three are within ten minutes' walk.