-Look Up, Look Down Challenge, Week 84

Every Thursday, I publish a post containing photos taken from above or below, and invite you to join in the challenge by posting your own images with an up or down perspective.

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This week, come with me to Milan and we’ll make our first stop the stunning Duomo.

This Gothic building alone, justifies a visit to Milan.  It is the largest church in Italy and the fifth largest in the world, it is dedicated to St Mary of the Nativity and is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan.

The cathedral was built over several hundred years in a number of contrasting styles and opinions on its artistic value vary as much as it architectural style. In 1875, Oscar Wilde reported in a letter to his mother that “The Cathedral is an awful failure. Outside the design is monstrous and inartistic. The over-elaborated details stuck high up where no one can see them; everything is vile in it; it is, however, imposing and gigantic as a failure, through its great size and elaborate execution.”

One of the best known features is the Madonnina’s spire which was erected in 1762. The polychrome Madonnina statue, designed by Giuseppe Perego, stands atop a 108.5 metre tile spire, designed by Carlo Pellicani.

In May 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte, about to be crowned King of Italy, ordered the façade to be finished by Pellicani. Within just seven years, the Cathedral’s façade was finally complete and in the following years, most of the missing arches and spires were constructed.

In November 2012 a campaign to raise funds for the cathedral’s preservation was initiated, inviting patrons to adopt the building’s gargoyles. To compensate for reduced government support during times of austerity, the public were invited to adopt the 135 gargoyles.

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The Challenge

Click here to enter the challenge

Welcome to week 84 and a huge thank you to all who participated last week.

All are welcome to join this challenge; do please share your up or down perspective with us.  Simply create your own post as normal, create a link to this challenge and click above to enter your link and view other entries.  If you have any difficulties with the linky, please just leave your link in a comment below and I will upload your thumbnail.

Finally, please don’t forget to go and visit the other challengers and pass on your views and encouragement.

To find out more about how to enter, click here.  The linky list will open each Thursday at 00:01 GMT (or a bit before) and will normally be open for one week.

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Also linked to Travel Photo Mondays.

Copyright Debbie Smyth, 8 April 2015