Piazza del Duomo

The cathedral was begun in 1386 and finished, in the sense of having a façade, under Napoleon in 1813 — four hundred and twenty-seven years, which is roughly the point. It carries something like a hundred and thirty-five spires and three thousand four hundred statues, and the gilded Madonnina has stood on the tallest spire since 1774.

The square in front of it is the centre of Milan in every sense: the Galleria opens off one corner, the trams turn at another, and the whole city uses it as a crossroads rather than a monument.

What it costs

⭐ The square is free and never closes.

Going inside the cathedral is ticketed, and so is the roof — they are different tickets, and a combined pass covers the cathedral, the terraces, the museum and the church of San Gottardo. ⚠️ Buy whichever you want before you queue; the ticket office and the entrance are not the same door.

⚠️ Shoulders and knees covered, and this is enforced at the door.

When to go

⭐ Early, before about nine, when the square belongs to people crossing it on the way to work and the light is on the façade. By eleven it is one of the busiest public spaces in Europe.

Getting there

Duomo station is on M1 and M3 and the exit puts you in the square. Almost every tram in the centre passes within two minutes’ walk.

⭐ One urban ticket lasts 90 minutes and covers the metro, the trams and the buses inside the city zones — one metro journey plus as many surface changes as you can fit. A contactless bank card works at the gate, and ⚠️ you tap the same card again on the way out of a metro station. See Getting Around.

If you only have an hour

The square, then the cathedral interior, then out through the Galleria. An hour, and the roof is a separate hour that deserves its own.

What people get wrong

⛔ Do not buy anything from someone who approaches you in the square. The bracelet and the birdseed are the two oldest routines in Milan and both end in a demand for money. Walk on; nothing here is sold by someone walking towards you.