Duomo di Milano's profile fully visible after nearly 20 years

For the first time in nearly two decades, the entire profile of the Duomo di Milano is visible, as the last scaffolding covering the tiburio (the octagonal structure enclosing the dome) has been removed. The tiburio, whose design involved Renaissance masters Bramante and Leonardo da Vinci, had been obscured since 2008 when restoration work began on the cathedral's summit. The Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo, the institution responsible for the cathedral's perpetual maintenance, completed the structural consolidation and marble restoration of the tiburio, a project that cost €20 million. While the external scaffolding is gone, eight kilometers of steel tubing remain inside the cathedral and are expected to be removed by the end of the year. The Duomo, under construction since 1386, has never been technically finished; its maintenance is continuous due to its massive size, over 3,400 statues, 135 spires, and the wear of the pink Candoglia marble. The last major facade modification was in 1932. The summit restoration, which began in 2008, saw the upper part of the dome (with the Madonnina, installed in 1774) freed from scaffolding in 2017, but the final section took longer.