our penultimate day in Milan
did not disappoint!
one of the most stunning
and profound
churches was on our list
for this day
but - first! -
a bit of cafe'
straight up at the bar,
in as true Milanese style
as these two Americanos could muster
we noticed that, interestingly,
the names/logos on cups and napkins
often never matched the bar's name...
however, i think this one actually did!
on our walk from Zona Magenta
to our first destination (coffee!),
we paused to contemplate
the 286AD Roman ruins
of the Maximian Imperial Palace
(we toured the nearby Archaeology Museum
the next day, so more later...)
our first church destination of the day was
a lovely Renaissance-era church
built between 1476-1482
google wants to translate this to limousine...vroom-vroom,
but this word actually (and of course) means 'offering'
somewhere in the church is a shrine
to Satyrus (San Satiro),
the brother of Saint Ambrose.
though the statue below
is exquisite,
i don't believe this is it
due to the presence of Via Falcone
directly behind, this church (on the site
of a more primitive worship space
built in 879 by Archbishop Anspert)
has a "false" apse
or trompe-l'oeil (deceive-the-eye) -
this is a WALL below,
painted as if it is a 3-D space!
i was especially taken with the creche,
which included a wooden ladder
and draped cloths as the backdrop
truly, a visual deception...
that altar wall at the end
is FLAT!
& one last candle-glow corner
for contemplation
i am not Catholic
(and, tbh, not particularly devout
of any sort...spiritual but not religious,
shall we say...) but this...
this is profound
wikipedia says these bones were collected
after the nearby cemetery no longer had space
for more burials
(in 1145, a hospital and a cemetery
were built near Santo Stefano Maggiore,
eventually necessitating this ossuary)
such a reverent space for these remains
and a visceral reminder
of our relatively short lives
we should use our years well,
for good and with love
i'm inferring that the likely scenario
for the origin of these bones
is from the hospital's cemetery,
dug up years after burial
to make way in the ground
for more newly deceased humans
floor to ceiling,
on all four sides...
bones.
some of the art with bones
felt just a smidge...challenging...
to me - likely done without
any sort of consent of the bones' owners
in this space, you are
completely surrounded
by skulls and bones
such a space
as i have never seen before
~ ~ ~
we stepped next door to
which had some (to my eyes)
rather modern adornments
as well as some that appeared
more in keeping with
the church's 1075 rebuild
next was...
as we were on a circular path
towards the canal neighborhood, Naviglio
this façade is newer,
from about 1870 -
whereas the church was primarily
re-built in the 15th century
(on the location of a 472 structure)
oh, that beautiful BLUE 🤩
just gorgeous!
i love when they preserve around
older parts of these churches
this one also had some surprisingly modern
religious art
this blue and these black-and-white pillars
are just electrifying to me!
getting closer to Naviglio,
we popped into the important
extensive creche - complete with sand!
founded in the fourth century,
it is said to have housed the remains
of the Three Kings until the 12th century,
when Milan was invaded, the relics stolen
& taken to Cologne by the victors....
until a return of the bones & garments around 1903
the tomb of the Three Kings,
complete with 🌟
i ended up wandering backwards
(it turned out)
into an attached museum
passing by this beautiful
sun struck window on my way
and some old frescoes
down below the altar
we took a wee bench break
with the pigeons in the piazza
before finally arriving in Naviglio!
which was quite the tourist destination
a pretty little courtyard along the canal
with letterbox -
& hot pink sasanqua camellias,
just like we have at home
& maybe some winter jasmine?
heart art & love locks,
which apparently originated
about 100 years ago in Serbia
(with more recent installations
in other countries causing
quite a bit of controversy)
two swans a-swimming
(with awesome ripple effect)
alternate love lock strategy...
canal scenes, of bikes & pizza
& graffiti art
"all of me"
flower stands in December,
somehow...
we rejected several restaurants
near the canal
as much too full of tourists
(we are the kind of tourists
who attempt to completely avoid
others of our kind)
so we walked, and walked, and walked...
but it totally paid off!
we scooted into a delightful, local trattoria
on a narrow side street
that was just winding down
from the lunch crowd
& had ourselves a super yummy repast!
(and a most surprising toilet,
which was much like the ones
we encountered in Istanbul...
feet go here - and good luck!)
YUM!
while we had tracked down a few
fashion 'outlets,' we hadn't quite found
what we were looking for in terms of
price & style...so we were super excited
with Humana Vintage!
we scrabbled through the racks
of 'vintage' (ish) clothing,
along with the other 20-somethings (haha)
with bags in tow, we generally headed back
towards our place
with some low-key stops on the way,
nabbing a few treats from this
tiny bakery
and following the path home...
~ tomorrow is our last day in Milan ~
