DAY 1 (24th November 2023)
Southwestern Milan Walkabout including Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”
The three of us – RS(BR:@danrodgers), PN(BR:@ Primela) and me – left Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 23rd November 2023 for an overnight flight to Milan via Doha. After a two-hour layover, we continued our flight bound for Milan.
Upon landing at the Malpensa International Airport in Milan (temperature around 10⁰C), we took a Grab straight to our AirBnB unit located at via Magolfa, near to the famous Navigli Canal area. Our AirBnb host was kind enough to allow us to check in early. So, we dumped our bags, discarded our weariness and jetlag, and headed off to fulfil the agenda of the day. The highlight of Day 1 would certainly be the famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci located inside the Santa Maria delle Gracie, and we were booked in for the restricted tour at 1330hrs. So, our itinerary had to be planned around that.
Arco di Porta Ticinese
While preparing for the trip, I read somewhere that there remains only three original arcos or arches in Milan, and this was one of them, right within the Navigli region in the southwest (Bro Ray: for the life of me, I cannot seem to find that article anywhere now). The arch structure is now in the path of modern roads and tramways, but there is a roundabout that goes around it. Beware of cyclists and other pedestrians when taking photos!
The words “Paci Popvlorvm Sospitae” on the south face means “to peace which frees people” in Latin, inscribed onto the monument and dedicated in 1815 (“MDCCCXV”) after the Napoleanic Wars.
Walls of Dolls
As we trudged northwards toward the direction of Santa Maria delle Grazie, we would pass the Wall of Dolls erected along the via Edmondo de Amicis. This art exhibit is dedicated to all female victims of violence. The exhibit itself is continuously changing with new dolls being added periodically. It’s kinda morbid actually and exudes an eerie feeling. And sad, too.
Piazza Sant Ambrogio
The Piazza itself is a broad walkway between the Universita Cattolica | Sede Carducci (Catholic University of Sacred Heart) and the Basilica Sant’Ambrogio, one of the most ancient churches in Milan. Surrounding the outer walls of the church are several monuments built more recently commemorating one occasion or another. The basilica still functions as a church, conducting Mass several times a week. (Bro Ray: I only just got to know that there is a marble pillar named the Devil’s Column just outside the church – must have walked past without seeing it)
Various monuments built in latter times to commemorate various events
Santa Maria delle Grazie
The Last Supper painting by the great artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci was drawn on one of the walls of the Santa Maria delle Gracie refectory. If you had not purchased the entrance tickets in advance, you are very unlikely to get in. There are limited numbers of people per group per day allowed into the temperature- and humidity-controlled room housing the Last Supper. And even that, for 15 minutes only per group.
The crowd outside was understandably large, and we met people from all over the world, converging here to view this masterpiece. Our guide turned up to give us a brief overview of the entire place and history of the art itself. You will not be allowed to bring a bag or carry a water bottle or food into the exhibit area – for obvious reasons. But there are free lockers available in the office before you head in. And flash photography and videography are strictly prohibited as well.
The painting was said to have been meticulously painted over several years, with a lot of attention to detail and the striking symbolism that came with this very intimate moment mentioned in the Bible. However, one of the key things that isn’t always mentioned in articles about the painting is the fact that many years after it was completed, someone decided to build a doorway to the refectory right under where Jesus was seated, effectively destroying that part of the art forever… Now, we can never know how Leonardo would have depicted Jesus’ feet.
On the opposite wall, there was a fresco-styled painting by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano named “The Crucifixion”, which covered the entire wall, painted a little later. These two works of art are within the same room. In the Bible, the crucifixion of Jesus happened merely a few hours after the Last Supper.
In the immediate area outside the exhibit hall there were many other displays, but the most interesting were the close-ups of the Leonardo painting with some explanations. The twelve disciples were depicted at the Supper with Jesus, and Matthew the disciple was said to be the one painted third from the right in a blue robe.
Colonne di San Lorenzo
After spending almost 2 hours at the grounds of the Santa Maria delle Grazie, we decided to make our way back to our AirBnb place via a different route, which would take us to the next stop in our agenda – the Colonne di San Lorenzo. A row of huge Roman pillars is lined up on one side of the square opposite the Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore and in the square, the bronze copy of the statue of Emperor Constantine I. The original is in Rome.
We were all quite tired by this point, but we pushed on through the Parco Giovanni Paolo II, which is a pet-friendly open park, located right behind the Basilica di Sant Eustorgio. We had all but given up taking photos by then.
Finally, we arrived back at the Navigli area and the restaurants along the canal had burst into life, and many of the restaurants were already filling up with office folk and merrymakers. We managed to capture a lovely sunset on one of the many bridges across the canal, which was a fitting end to the great welcome that Italy had given us. (Bro Ray: We were here only a few nights – I can’t tell you which restaurants are good, since there was absolutely no way we could sample all the food available along Navigli Canal).
Summary for Day 1
In total, we walked about 6.2km as we went about visiting those places mentioned above. We took a slightly different route going (red arrow) and coming back (yellow arrow), so that we could take in the sights along the way. Considering that we just flew in that morning, we covered a lot of ground in one day – if you have those watches that can keep track of the number of steps, this route garnered us more than 25,000 steps!
