Instead of Milan's Duomo: the hidden Milan behind the spires
What to see in Milan beyond the Duomo: frescoed churches, Liberty-style courtyards, the Navigli and crowd-free day trips across Lombardy.
There's almost always a queue in front of the Duomo, and the rooftop terrace has to be booked days ahead. But if you're looking for what to see in Milan beyond the Duomo, you'll soon realise that just a five-minute walk from the square opens onto a city of silent cloisters, Renaissance frescoes and courtyards no passing guidebook will show you. Here is an itinerary for the Milan behind the spires, plus a few escapes into Lombardy for those with an extra day.
In central Milan
**A stone's throw from the cathedral.** The first surprise hides behind a plain façade on Corso Magenta: the church of San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, once the city's most important convent for women, is entirely covered by the frescoes of Bernardino Luini and his school (1522-1529), so much so that it's known as "Milan's Sistine Chapel". Entry is free thanks to the Touring Club volunteers, and it's open Tuesday to Sunday. You'll find the whole neighbourhood and its vineyard in Behind Corso Magenta: Leonardo's vineyard and the Sistine Chapel Milan forgets.
Still in the centre, in Piazza Santo Stefano, San Bernardino alle Ossa holds a seventeenth-century ossuary with walls clad in skulls and a vault frescoed by Sebastiano Ricci: macabre and magnificent at once. A couple of steps from the Duomo, on Via Torino, the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro conceals Bramante's famous "fake" choir, a painted perspective that fakes a depth that doesn't exist in just a few centimetres of wall.
**Courtyards, stone and Liberty style.** Medieval Milan survives in the Cinque Vie district, the city's oldest crossroads, among doorways that open onto cobbled courtyards and the Ca' de Sass building. The story of these lanes is in Cinque Vie: stone courtyards and the medieval Milan behind the Duomo. Heading towards Porta Venezia, the so-called Quadrilatero del Silenzio (around Via Mozart and Via Serbelloni) lines up Liberty and Déco villas a step away from the traffic: you'll find it in The Quadrilatero del Silenzio, Milan's Liberty and Déco treasure chest. To finish, walk down to the Naviglio Grande: the Vicolo dei Lavandai, with its old stone washhouse, is one of the most photogenic and least obvious corners of the city. Anyone who loves twentieth-century art can add the Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano, free of charge, with hundreds of works in a period apartment.
Escapes across Lombardy
**When the city empties out at the weekend.** From Milan, in less than an hour by train or car, you can reach Lombard destinations that give the itinerary room to breathe. Towards the Varese hills, among the countryside, the ruins and the little church of Santa Maria foris portas preserve an extraordinary cycle of early-medieval frescoes: it's the story of Castelseprio: Byzantine frescoes among the Varese hills. On Lake Maggiore, clinging to a cliff sheer above the water, stands one of the most spectacular hermitages in Italy, told in Santa Caterina del Sasso, the cliff-hanging hermitage on Lake Maggiore.
For those who don't mind a walk, above Civate in the Lecco area you earn on foot one of the finest Romanesque abbeys in the region: San Pietro al Monte: the abbey you conquer on foot. Further east, in Valle Camonica, the UNESCO World Heritage rock carvings can be read as you stroll among the boulders of Naquane, the carved stones telling eight thousand years of the Camunni.
To the south, half an hour by train brings you to Pavia, where the nineteenth-century university cloisters offer a pause in the shade of the magnolias: the place is in Among magnolias and cloisters: the courtyards of the University of Pavia. And if you're willing to cross over towards Lake Ceresio, on the Swiss border, a very rare Early Christian monument awaits: The Baptistery of Riva San Vitale: fifth-century stone on the shores of Lake Ceresio.
How to plan it
**Getting around.** In the city everything is done on foot or by metro; the churches have variable opening hours and often close at lunchtime, so check before you set out. For the Lombard destinations, spring and early autumn are the best seasons: stable weather, lakes and trails at their most enjoyable, and none of the queues that had made you give up on the Duomo terrace. Seen this way, Milan stops being a quick stopover and becomes a city to explore courtyard by courtyard.
Practical guides for Torino
Practical info
When is the best time to visit Instead of Milan's Duomo?
The recommended time is April, May, June, September and October, when it is less crowded.
Where is Instead of Milan's Duomo?
Instead of Milan's Duomo is located in Italy.
