Milan Cathedral (Duomo)

Work began in 1386 under Gian Galeazzo Visconti and the façade wasn't finished until 1805, when Napoleon ordered it completed before being crowned King of Italy. It's built of Candoglia marble, once floated in by canal, and carries more than 3,400 statues and 135 spires. On the tallest, 108 metres up, stands the gilded Madonnina, the city's best-loved figure.

Inside, the nave soars with huge stained-glass windows and the statue of the flayed Saint Bartholomew, wearing his own skin like a cloak. The part not to miss is the rooftop: you walk across the marble roof among flying buttresses and spires, with the square below and, on clear days, the Alps beyond.