The Madonnina

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A victory for Barcelona is often seen as a victory for Catalonian interests. Yet, like in all these rivalries, El Clasico is led by a desire to win on the pitch. Madrid and Barcelona have dominated Spanish football and won 19 European Cups between them. Andriy Shevchenko scores twice as Milan destroy Inter in 2001. Photograph: Grazia Neri/Getty Images

During the medieval era different families and dinasties tried to take control of the city of Milan. The one that succeed in 1477 was the Sforza family. The mercenary Francesco Sforza defeated the Della Torre heirs and took power over Milan and its nearby territories. That’s when his own embleme, a dragon eating a child, became popular and consequently the symbol of the city. His next step, which was to phone the police and ask them to investigate the Gregori family, therefore, seems logical, as does his request to his own doctor to carry out tests on the "blood" now congealed on the statue. What he wasn't prepared for was the result: the substance was haemoglobin. A second possibility is that it was lost at sea in the Atlantic Ocean on a voyage from Europe to the United States. [ citation needed]

Milan's Cathedral, or simply the Duomo, is one of the most photographed tourist spots in the centre of the city. The reliquary presented to Archbishop Baranzini on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination ids of special interest since it contains the tears collected by the commission. The reliquary is comprised of three layers, the bottom of which contains cloths saturated with the tears, a vial of the tears and some cotton wool that had absorbed the tears; the second layer has four panels depicting the events. The third and highest layer has a crystal urn which holds another vial of tears: the tears in it are now crystallized.

Within 10 years of their foundation, Milan won the league three times. The club, however, began to lose members in 1907. The Italian FA had a nativist rule, which prevented clubs from signing foreign players. Milan protested and decided to not take part in the league the following season. The huge ceremonial “hall” is faced with marble reflecting the star: the Virgin Mary of the morning, preceding the rising of the sun – Jesus.Throughout the weekend, as the story hit the headlines, the faithful and the merely curious, including reporters and TV crews, thronged in their thousands down the small country lane to Gregori's house, pushing into his small garden, praying, weeping, gawping, chattering and crossing themselves as they filed past the tiny statue before shuffling out again to gossip and speak to the press. With Satan apparently lurking around every corner, these forces of darkness, he says, are especially widespread in Italy (in fact, the highest number of religious "miracles" are reported in Ireland, the United States and Italy). But among all 3,400 statues, the Duomo’s - and arguably the city’s - most revered figure is the golden representation of Mary, endearingly called the Madonnina (Little Madonna). Measuring four metres high and completely covered in gold, the Madonnina stands at the highest point of the Duomo’s roof and looks over the city asserting her role as the protector of the Milanese people. The façade design began at the end of the 16th century. The lantern tower and the laying of the Madonnina were completed between the 17th and 18th centuries. After Napoleon’s coronation in 1805, the project developed rapidly. Most of the spires were placed on the roof, stained glass and the façade were finished. In the second half of the 20th century, the Fabbrica undertook complex structural restoration, especially on the façade and spires. The Duomo today The sculptor Giuseppe Perego was commissioned to create the statue and in 1769 he presented three different solutions. Of the first and third one (the last one was selected) there are still terracotta models, preserved in the Sala della Madonnina of the Museo del Duomo, where the head, carved from the single trunk of a walnut tree is also exhibited.

The Duomo is open every day from 08:00 to 19:00, with the last entry at 18:10. The opening times for other parts of the Cathedral vary: The city of Milan has a millenial history. Founded by the Celts who, according to a legend, decided to build a new town where they saw a pig just for a half covered in hair. It was the scrofa semilanuta and that particular wild animal became the symbol of the city. It remained as a landamrk of Milan till the Middle Ages when it was replaced by the embleme of the Sforza Family. A bas-relief of the scrofa can still be seen engraved in Piazza Mercanti. That clash was one of the tensest Derby della Madonnina clashes in recent memory, and the story started two years earlier in 2003. In the Champions League that season, Milan went on to lift the trophy after edging out a win over Inter in the semi-finals, 1-1 on aggregate but progressing through ‘away’ goals, a frustrating reality for the Nerazzurri considering both games took place at San Siro.For a long time, no building could be higher than the Madonnina. Although this is no longer true, many of the city’s skyscrapers have installed a statue replica on their highest point to continue the tradition. Duomo di Milano history and building facts

The original painting made its first appearance at the Venice Biennale in 1897. [2] John George Alexander Leishman, a steel entrepreneur and diplomat, who died in France in 1924 in France, [3] bought the painting but not the reproduction rights; he is the last known owner. It is possible that the image entered a private art collection in Pennsylvania in the 1950s, [4] but the current location of the original is unknown. An original oil painting entitled Madonna and Child from Florence was bequeathed to the Sisters of St. Casimir by a certain Dr. Edgar W. Crass in 1950 and bears a striking resemblance to the current prints of the missing La Madonnina by Ferruzzi. In the Crypt there are several chapels. The Chapel of the Sacred Heart houses the Blessed Sacrament. The mosaic represents the apparition of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margherita Alacoque. Everything is wrapped up in a colorful vortex that converges in the golden diamond-shaped Tabernacle.Fabio Gregori's ordeal, however, was far from over. Under Italian law, once an accusation is made, the public prosecutor is obliged to open a full-scale criminal investigation, which can drag on for years, even if there is insufficient evidence to prosecute. What happened a week later added a whole new dimension to an already farcical situation. While saying mass at home with his sister, brother-in-law, nephew and two Romanian nuns, the bishop claims that La Madonnina cried tears of blood as he held her in his hands. Among the thousands of statues, some are naturally images of saints andfigures fromthe history of Christianity, but some others are rather peculiar: sirens with double-ended fishtails, the portrait of boxer athlete Primo Carnera, and the face of Benito Mussolini are just a few worth searching around. Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special. Despite this, Tidei grumbles that St Agostino has not yet made the big time. The planned construction of a large new sanctuary is awaiting the church's go-ahead. "The bishop won't give me the opportunity to promote it as a commercial venture. He 'created' the miracle, but he is doing DIY tourism when we should tie in with the big pilgrim tour operators, for instance to go from Rome to Lourdes via Pantano."