Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie - Milan, Italy
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Metro2
N 45° 27.973 E 009° 10.241
32T E 513342 N 5034757
Leonardo's Last Supper is located inside this church with Gothic core and Renaissance exterior in Milan's northwestern sector.
Waymark Code: WM8AB8
Location: Lombardia, Italy
Date Posted: 02/27/2010
Views: 11
This Church and Convent are (jointly with Leonardo's Last Supper which is painted on one of the interior walls) a UNESCO World Heritage site.
From the Wikipedia article: (
visit link)
"The Duke of Milan Francesco I Sforza ordered to build a Dominican convent and a church in the place where a small chapel dedicated to St. Mary of the Graces was.
The main architect was Guiniforte Solari, the convent was completed by 1469 while the church took more time. The new duke Ludovico Sforza decided to have the church as the Sforza family burial place and rebuild the cloister and the apse which were completed after 1490.
Ludovico's wife Beatrice was buried in the church in 1497.
The apse of the church is widely believed to be by Donato Bramante. However, there's no real evidence of the fact, but that Bramante lived in Milan at the time, and he is once quoted in the acts of the church (a marble delivery in 1494). He continued the gothic style from the first part, but mixed with romanic influence. The slightly excessive height of this apse has received some critics.