in 1386 work began on the Milan Cathedral, using Candoglia marble in the late Gothic style of Rhenish-Bohemian inspiration. Adorned with 135 spires and 3,400 statues, in 1774 the Madonnina was placed on the highest point; this four-metre statue in gilded copper is one of the symbols of the Milanese tradition.

In 1506 the first stone was laid for the reconstruction of St. Peter’s Basilica, decreed by Pope Julius II. The project envisaged a large hemispherical dome placed in the centre of the compound and was entrusted to Bramante. Between 1513 and 1514, with both Bramante and the Pontiff dead, first Raphael, then Antonio Sangallo and finally Michelangelo Buonarroti took over.  The latter demolished part of the Sangallo project, starting with Bramante’s plan of making the dome the central element. In 1587 the task of finishing the dome was entrusted to Giacomo della Porta and his assistant Domenico Fontana. When in 1603 Maderno took over, Pope Paul V had the old Basilica incorporated in the extension of the east wing of the new church. To enhance it, the dome was framed by two bell towers.

In March 1882 the first stone was laid in Barcelona for the construction of the Tempio Espiatorio della Sagrada Familia, a project initially entrusted to de Paula Villar but which, in 1883, passed to Antoni Gaudi, a leading exponent of Catalan modernism.  He worked on the project for over forty years, completely dedicating the last fifteen years of his life to it. The Temple has three facades, two of which have already been built: the Passion Façade and the Nativity Façade. The Glory Façade has yet to be completed.

The three stamps depict:

€ 1.15 Duomo of Milan: façade (part). Milan.
©2021. Photo Scala, Florence/Mauro Ranzani.

€ 2,60 St.Peter’s Basilica: Dome. Vatican City.
©2021. Photo by Scala, Florence.

€ 2.90 Sagrada Familia (part). Barcelona.
©2021. De Agostini Picture Library/Scala, Florence.