A Very Old Church

Italy is a country blessed with many old and beautiful catholic churches.

One of the greatest grand old churches in the world is the Duomo di Milano – literally, the cathedral of Milan.
I actually came across this building unexpectedly when I lost my way around the narrow streets of the city. The first time I laid my eyes on it, it took my breath away. With its imposing Gothic facade and its amazing spires rising above the surrounding designer boutiques, I was left in absolute awe.

It costs 7 Euros (RM35) to use the elevator. The views from the top of the cathedral are worth every penny of it.
Adorning the top of the tallest spire, holding a cross, is the bronze statue of Madonna. Not the singer Madonna. The religious figure Madonna.

The exterior of the Duomo di Milano is simply extraordinary.
There are at least 3,200 statutes, all intricately carved out of stones, marbles, bronze and gold, crammed onto the facade, pillars and buttresses of the structure. Eventhough parts of the building are still undergoing restoration when I visited it, the beauty of the cathedral is undeniable.

The complexity of building such a complicated structure got me wondering how much time it actually took to build a church like that. My travel guidebook said it was built in 1397 and wasn’t finished until year 1812.
That is a blardy long time to finish a building like that.

In Kuching, our oldest temple is the Tua Pek Kong which is probably only 100 years old. And to us, that is very old already.
In comparison, the Duomo di Milano is at least 600 years old.
The cathedral is so old, at least 11 different chief engineers worked on it. It is so old, it takes over 8 generations of builders to build.

Heck. It is so old, even the statues’ boobs start sagging.


Italian is a really funny language. Over here, “ciao” means “hi”, “si” means “yes”, and “prego” means “you’re welcome.”
In Malaysia, “ciao” means “bird”, “si” means “die”, and “prego” is what happen when you forgot to use the condom last night.

70 Replies to “A Very Old Church”

  1. Visited Italy 11 years ago …. 1st few days very interesting visiting churches ,,, after that … boring ! But very nice experience indeed

  2. errrrr… it looks more like house of spirits than a church of christ?????……. No offence and I am a christian.

  3. i’m visiting milan and venice in may. i only have 3 days there since i’ve other tour. Would you mind telling me are the cheap and safe place to stay.. it’s a DIY trip.

  4. Comment on last pic is gold! Very awesome cathedral, that; it’s so intricate and maginificent, it’s almost surreal. Would definitely visit it one day, before i die, anyway :p

  5. just had to spoil it with that last line eh. enjoying your readers ‘OMG U SO FUNNY LA’ comments too much man…

  6. errrrr… it looks more like house of spirits than a church of christ?????……. No offence and I am a christian.
    Posted by: princess at 27 March 2008 9:06 AM | Link to comment
    I wonder what princess thinks is a church of christ..
    An exhibition hall perhaps?
    No offence.
    I’m Catholic.
    And I’m not in the best of moods..So..don’t go all ballistic and label Catholics the same way.

  7. With the sagging boobs, I think they should send in somebody else and not the engineers to prevent further saggings!!!

  8. sagging boobs? no respect for the church and the religion. simply cracking jokes to sell your blog. pls be mindful next time.

  9. oh i’ve been there too. but u can’t miss duomo in milan. it’s right in the centre man! i wonder why you found it only after found yourself lost in narrow alleys.

  10. OMG! You are in Milan!! I love milan though I’ve never been there. It’s like my dream holiday location! *jealous*

  11. i was suppoer to be in italy for my easter break!!!!!
    im sure you had/am having a fantastic trip! my dream place for a holiday

  12. Without a doubt BEAUTIFUL Architechture, but anyone really interested in Biblical History should visit a little nondescript Church in ETHIOPIA which is said to house The Ark of The Covenant; The Box containing the Tablets on which GOD inscribed The Ten Commandments for Moses. The priest assigned to look after the Ark is committed for LIFE and only on his death is another allowed the assignment. All else are Forbidden to view the Ark of the Covenant, and because Western media are not allowed to See or Record, typically, they discredit it’s existence.
    Theory is, that Queen of Sheba had a son by Soloman, and when under attack for fear the Ark might fall into hands of his enemies, Soloman sent the Ark to ETHIOPIA for safekeeping.
    In Biblical times ETHIOPIA & SOMALIA are mentioned as CUSH & PUT. An ISRAELI scholar discovered three villages in AFRICA which still practice old ISRAELITE Customs & Rituals with influence of AFRICAN culture, and their DNA showed higher Similarities to the Prophets than people in ISRAEL.

  13. I wonder what princess thinks is a church of christ..
    An exhibition hall perhaps?
    No offence.
    I’m Catholic.
    And I’m not in the best of moods..So..don’t go all ballistic and label Catholics the same way.
    Posted by: iggy at 27 March 2008 4:46 PM | Link to comment
    Apology iggy. Din realise it’s catholic church in the first place after reading some of the comments bout boops and the naked men as well as the creatures on the building.

  14. you should sooo go to spain! tho you gotta watchout for pickpockets but it is amazing…the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona…it’s amazing…

  15. There is a Church with Historical Significance right there in KUCHING. St THOMAS’ CATHEDRAL was built when SARAWAK was primarily CHRISTIAN and represented an Important LANDMARK, especially to it’s INDIGENOUS Peoples.
    Since the Invasion there have been rumblings of it’s REMOVAL, maybe even the abomination of building a Mosque on top of it as was the custom elsewhere.
    I was dismayed to discover that this Symbol of SARAWAK’s journey into Civilisation has been COMPLETELY Removed/Omitted from All MALAYSIAN Government web sites/literature.

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