Candoglia quarry (source of marble for the Duomo di Milano) opens to visit

Thank you Lola, that looks very interesting.

I am also interested in your experience with the Duomo stairs/roof as a fellow claustrophobic and height averse person. I wanted to see the carvings on the spires and it's reassuring to know you felt the steps were safe and secure. I'm assuming the same for the terrace area and the roof? (At least I think that's what they are called?) I'll probably take the elevator but I understand there are still steps at the end? I can do them as long as they are not open steelwork like the Eiffel Tower...which I didn't think they were since they seem to be inside?

Hi Pam, I did read that even if you take the lift up you “may” need to take the stairs down. The stairs did not feel claustrophobic at all, even though they are fully enclosed.—-stone all around. The stairwell is more than a meter wide, and quite tall, with windows for light at frequent intervals. It makes a 90 degree turn every 5 or 6 steps, which makes it safer, and keeps it from feeling like a long endless tunnel. It was nothing like the Florence Duomo climb, which is much more cramped.

After the first 160 steps (approximately), you come out onto the terrace area, which is well secured from the edge by a stone barrier. At my height, it was hard for me to even see straight down to the ground, but I could be right against the barrier to see the carvings on the outside of the building and buttresses up close, and not trigger my vertigo at all.

Then you go back up another 90 (or so) steps to the actual roof. It has a wide flat walkway along the ridge line, and then a very gentle slope down to the roof edge, again with a stout stone barrier so you can safely walk right up to it. One is free to walk all over, along the barrier, up and down the slopes (probably not a good idea when wet, but it might not be open then), or the ridge line. So you can wander and spend time looking at the details as much as you want. They are indeed amazing—-every carving is different.

There is a different stairway for the descent, as one would expect. We did find a few people coming up from the bottom—-the egress from the “down” stairway ends in the cathedral, and there is no stern signage preventing people who paid for the Duomo interior from entering the stairway and ascending.

Oh gosh...thank you for the extra information. I am reassured I'll be OK with that situation! I'll go ahead and book it!

And yes...uh, not gonna go up if it's raining!