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Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral
Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary
Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente  (Italian)
876MilanoDuomo.JPG
Milan Cathedral from the Square (PH: Gianluca Pizzigoni)
Milan Cathedral is located in Milan
Milan Cathedral
Milan Cathedral
Location in Milan
45°27′51″N 9°11′29″E / 45.46417°N 9.19139°E / 45.46417; 9.19139Coordinates: 45°27′51″N 9°11′29″E / 45.46417°N 9.19139°E / 45.46417; 9.19139
Location Via Carlo Maria Martini, 1
20122 Milan
Country Italy
Denomination Roman Catholic
Tradition Ambrosian Rite
Website Milan Duomo
Architecture
Status Cathedral, minor basilica
Functional status Active
Architect(s) Simone da Orsenigo
et al.
Style Italian Gothic
Groundbreaking 1386 (original building)
Completed 1965 (1965)
Specifications
Capacity 40,000
Length 158.6 metres (520 ft)
Width 92 metres (302 ft)
Nave width 16.75 metres (55.0 ft)
Height 108 metres (354 ft)
Other dimensions Facade facing West
Dome height (outer) 65.6 metres (215 ft)
Number of spires 135
Spire height 108.5 metres (356 ft)
Materials Brick with Candoglia marble
Administration
Archdiocese Archdiocese of Milan
Clergy
Archbishop Angelo Scola
Laity
Director of music Claudio Burgio
Organist(s) Emanuele Carlo Vianelli
(organista titolare)

Milan Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Milano [ˈdwɔːmo di miˈlaːno]; Lombard: Domm de Milan [ˈdɔm de miˈlã]) is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to St Mary of the Nativity (Santa Maria Nascente), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Angelo Scola. The Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the largest church in Italy (the larger St. Peter's Basilica is in the State of Vatican City) and the fifth largest in the world.

Milan's layout, with streets either radiating from the Duomo or circling it, reveals that the Duomo occupies what was the most central site in Roman Mediolanum, that of the public basilica facing the forum. The first cathedral, the "new basilica" (basilica nova) dedicated to St Thecla, was completed by 355. It seems to share, on a slightly smaller scale, the plan of the contemporaneous church recently rediscovered beneath Tower Hill in London. An adjoining basilica was erected in 836. The old octagonal baptistery, the Battistero Paleocristiano, dates to 335 and still can be visited under the Milan Cathedral. When a fire damaged the cathedral and basilica in 1075, they were rebuilt as the Duomo.


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