Duomo di Milano

The Duomo (cathedral) sits on one side of the Piazza Duomo, a space created at the expense of demolishing several significant 15th century houses in the 19th century, but thereby gaining a central hub for Milan. On the side of the piazza to the left of the Duomo is the Galleria and to the right is the Palazzo Real (royal palace). Plans for the fourth side of the square were never implemented.

The facade.

The Duomo di Milano is the fifth largest church in the world and the second largest in Italy (after Saint Peter's in the Vatican City, which at more than double the volume, dwarfs the Milanese effort). The current building was begun in 1386 and construction finally ceased in 1965. The core of the building is brick, in common with much of Milan. The cathedral's Gothic elements and marble cladding are the work of the French engineer hired to oversee the initial work and make it an unusual church in Italy, where the Gothic style of Northern Europe does not feature much. The marble comes from a quarry gifted to the cathedral in perpetuity by Gian Galeazzo Visconti.

The side, with the Madonnina statue just visible on the far right.

Over the centuries there has been a complicated programme of additions and alterations to the cathedral. Perhaps its most famous external feature is the gilded statue of the Madonna on the spire over the apse, known as the Madonnina. The spire she sits on is over a hundred metres high and she is so high up that she is frequently obscured by fog. Another spire supports a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was crowned King of Italy here. Most of the spires were added in the 19th century as part of a push to finish the building.

A detail of the facade.

The cathedral exterior was cleaned a few years ago and nowadays people are encouraged to support the work by adopting a gargoyle. For a fee you can get up on the roof, which is apparently spectacular, but it was so hot and the queue so long when we visited that we didn't even contemplate it. We didn't go inside for the same reason. 

The cathedral is not universally admired on aesthetic grounds. Inevitably given the centuries it took to build it is a stylistic mish-mash and the quality of workmanship varies greatly.

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A la cuisine hier: A few weeks ago I set a rye sourdough starter to festering. Then a couple of weeks ago I used some of it to make crumpet batter. Unfortunately I didn't have enough wheat flour and subbed partially with buckwheat. The first crumpets were a disappointment, being stodgy and not forming the requisite pores. Now the batter has been in the fridge for over a week and I've learned to use just a third of a cup of batter per crumpet they are working much better.

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Think on This: What is the value of wildlife rescue and rehabilitation? Certainly the costs can seem disproportionately high compared to the chance of a successful outcome. Some of the numbers in this article about the cost of wild animal rescue and rehab are jaw-dropping. Is it logical to focus on individuals when their chances are so slim? And we should bear in mind the bias towards the cute and furry (have you ever seen a frog in a wildlife rescue centre?). It's like I always say -- in nature conservation if you are not concentrating on habitat creation and regeneration you are just fiddling at the edges of the problem. Try to bear in mind that a sick or injured animal will provide sustenance for another. That helps your morale a bit when you cannot or should not help the individual. And of course, each case needs to be examined on its own merits. More often than we like to admit, doing nothing is the valid response, but sometimes, just sometimes, the feel good response is entirely justified.

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Au jardin hier: More grapes, walnuts and apples harvested. 

I spotted a young Agile Frog in the potager and a Buzzard flew away as I arrived. The Ivy is just started to flower, but no sign of Ivy Bees yet. Only Honey Bees were visiting.