The story of Milan Cathedral

Milan's cathedral took nearly six centuries to finish. Work began in 1386, and its final details were completed only in 1965. It is the largest church in Italy – St Peter's in Rome is larger, but it stands in Vatican City – and one of the largest in the world.

The cathedral occupies the most central spot of Roman Milan, and beneath it you can still visit an octagonal baptistery from 335. Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo started the building, and his cousin, the ruler Gian Galeazzo Visconti, gave it the exclusive use of marble from the Candoglia quarry, tax free. Builders struggled to lift stones to such unprecedented heights, and a French architect, Jean Mignot, was called in; he declared the work so far to be 'in peril of ruin' because it had been done 'without science'.

He was wrong – but his warning pushed the engineers to improve their techniques. Stand in the square and take in the vast marble cathedral.