MILAN, ITALY — As America prepares to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday, Italy provided a reality check on history.
Milan’s stunning Duomo was under construction in 1386.
Long before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, work had begun on the Milan Duomo.
And it would remain under construction for 600 years.
“Italians like their coffee, so they took a lot of breaks, that’s why it took so long,” joked one of the Duomo guides named Marius.
“No, Milanos went through many different situations, famine, war, poverty, instability and the sheer size of the cathedral as well,” he added.
The Duomo plaza is not normally as crowded during the winter, he notes, but the Olympics have drawn many tourists who have come to see the magnificent marble structure and take selfies.
Marius pointed out something else interesting. One of the statues in the Duomo’s front, La Legge Nuova, bears a resemblance to the Statue of Liberty, though this one has a cross in her hand.
La Legge Nuova bears a resemblance to the Statue of Liberty. (Mark Wetzel, KSL)
This statue pre-dates the Statue of Liberty by about 70 years and was said to be the inspiration.
“The sculptor (Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi) was known to visit here often,” Maris said.
The finishing touches were the Duomo grand doors, which were completed in 1965.
This area of Milan shares one similarity with Salt Lake City.
The Duomo is in the center and the roads radiate out and around it, much like Temple Square is the center of Salt Lake’s street grid.
That similarity aside, the history of this cathedral is unsurpassed.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind cathedral…They wanted to put Milan on the map of the world with the construction of the cathedral,” he said.