Places
The white marble façade of Milan Cathedral, bristling with spires, above a crowded square.
The façade on the Piazza del Duomo. Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Place · Cathedral

Milan Cathedral

The cathedral of Milan, begun in 1386 and finished in its last details only in 1965; the largest church in Italy.

Location
Milan, Italy
Building
Cathedral (archdiocesan see)
Tradition
Roman Catholic
Religious use
In use as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Milan.
Official website
Milan Cathedral

Map Building location: Apple Maps · Google Maps — the building, not a confirmed visitor entrance.

Dedicated to the Nativity of St Mary, the Duomo is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan and the largest church in the Italian Republic. It took nearly six centuries to complete.

In the Atlas

Each paragraph says whether it is documented history, a tradition handed down, or disputed.

  • Documented

    The site was already the heart of Roman Mediolanum. A first cathedral, the “new basilica” of St Thecla, was completed by 355; an octagonal baptistery of about 335 survives beneath the present church.

  • Documented

    Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo began the present cathedral in 1386; its final details were completed in 1965.

Reference draft. The statements were checked against the general reference sources below, read in a build session (Wikipedia at a recorded revision, and Wikidata). They have not yet been checked against scholarly or primary sources.

  • Reference work · Read in a build session

    Milan Cathedral — Wikipedia (English)

    Read on 28 Oct 2026 at revision 1381808734, fetched by the research workflow (research/fetched/places/milan-cathedral/wikipedia.txt). A general reference work, not a scholarly source; the statements here were checked against it.

  • Reference work · Read in a build session

    Wikidata item Q18068 (Milan Cathedral) — Wikidata

    Read on 28 Oct 2026: instance of, religion, diocese, coordinates and official website.