Milan Legends of Dragons, Ghosts, and the Devil

Milan first appears in the ancient record in c. 590 BC as a Celtic settlement, later conquered by the Romans. When Diocletian divided the Roman Empire, Milan was the capital of the western half.

But here in the 21st century, it’s perhaps better known as a fashion capital. Or maybe as the home of AC and Inter Milan.

Yet as we’ve seen with these European cities, ancient settlements often produce a range of ghosts and legends. It’s unsurprising, with so many people living out their lives in close proximity across such a span of time.

Milan’s folkloric side includes traditional cuisine, dragons, ghostly women in black veils, and even a column defaced by the Devil – among other things. Let’s investigate further…

Duomo di Milano

One of the places to see in Milan is the Duomo. It originally set the astronomical reference for the Prime meridian before Greenwich took over in 1884. The Duomo features a sundial from 1780, and sunlight passes through an oculus to hit the sundial. When the sundial showed midday, the church rang the bells so everyone could set their clocks to midday (Wineandtravelitaly.com 2024).

Aristocrat Gian Galeazzo Visconti ordered its construction. Yet the reason for its construction is a little less than holy. According to legend, the Devil appeared in one of Visconti’s dreams in 1386. Satan ordered him to build a church – and not just any church. Diabolical images would decorate the church or the Devil would take his soul. This explains the sheer number of monstrous heads on the Duomo’s exterior. As it is, the Duomo has over 3400 statues, making it the building with the highest number of statues in the world. They’re not all diabolical, but it’s still an impressive achievement (Milan City Journal 2023).

The main spire also boasts a gilded copper statue, called the Madonnina. She stands 108m from the ground, and people worried she might attract lightning until she was installed in 1774. The locals covered her with rags during the Second World War, so bombers wouldn’t spot light bouncing off her golden surface. A solemn ceremony accompanied her unveiling in May 1945 (Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano n.d. 2).

St Bartholomew Flayed

The Duomo also boasts a particularly gruesome statue of St Bartholomew, who wears his flayed skin draped around his shoulders like a fetching wrap. The statue once stood outside but people found it so unsettling that the priests moved it inside.

Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, usually identified with Nathaniel. Not a lot is known about him beyond that, other than he preached in both India and Armenia. Over time, he’s accrued an association with medicine, in part because one of his churches was built on the site of a Temple of Asclepius.

The statue in the Duomo, by Marco d’Agrate (1562), ends up being strangely ironic. It’s so anatomically detailed, with the muscles, veins and tendons visible, that it almost becomes a teaching aid for the body’s underlying structure!

Risotto alla Milanese

The Duomo is also linked with a traditional Milanese dish. According to the legend, risotto alla milanese, famously bright yellow because it’s dyed with saffron, came from the Duomo site.

In 1574, Valerio di Fiandra was a master glassmaker working on the Duomo. He was working on a window depicting St Helena. One of his assistants gained the nickname Zafferano because he kept mixing saffron into the glass to achieve the startling yellow colour.

At the same time, preparations were in full swing for Valerio’s daughter’s wedding. As the story goes, they served bright yellow risotto at the banquet after Zafferano added saffron as a joke. Luckily, the guests loved it, and it went on to become a staple in Milanese cuisine (Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, n.d. 1).

Is the story true? There’s no way to tell, but it’s quite sweet, and it inextricably links the Duomo with one of Milan’s most famous dishes.

Church of San Bernardino alle Ossa

We all know I love a good ossuary here on Fabulous Folklore and Milan is no exception. The ossuary’s origins lie in 1210 when a neighbouring cemetery ran out of room. Officials built a room to hold the bones and added a church in 1269. Giovanni Andrea Biffi restored the church in 1679, using skulls and tibiae to decorate the ossuary walls (Maya 2010).

Fire destroyed the church in 1712, leading to the construction of a new church dedicated to St Bernardino of Siena. This new church included plans for the ossuary since it proved to be such a draw for visitors. It’s likely the bones are those of patients from the nearby Ospedale del Brolo hospital and the monks that ran it.

There’s a fragment of a ghost story attached, in that the ghost of a young girl apparently appears on the anniversary of her death (Abernethy 2020). I’m not sure if this is the same little girl as the one whose bones come back to life every 2 November (All Souls’ Day) to lead the other skeletons in a danse macabre (Hohenhaus 2009-2024).

Piazza Vetra

Head to the Piazza Vetra, where you’ll find a park beside the Basilica of San Lorenzo. This marks the execution site of Milan’s witches and heretics.

Pierina de Bugatis and Sibilla Zanni were accused of witchcraft in 1390, marking the start of a wave of witchcraft trials. Other executions continued here until the deaths of Maria Palmolea and Margarita Martignana in 1641 (Cresci 2022).

The Tribunal of the Inquisition took place at Sant’Eustorgio nearby. The condemned were taken from the tribunal to the execution site to be burned alive (Abernethy 2020). To do so, they crossed a wooden bridge over the Canal della Vetra that ran through the square. According to legend, it was known as the Bridge of Sighs (Piccinini 2023).

Sforza Castle

The Visconti family ruled Milan in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. Their emblem shows a serpent with the head of a dog eating a boy. It remained the emblem for Sforza Castle even after the Visconti family lost prominence.

And yes, if you’re familiar with the history of the tarot, you’ll recognise Visconti Sforza as the name of one of the medieval decks. Made sometime after 1450, it may have been commissioned for Francesco Sforza, who married Filippo Maria Visconti’s only child (Husband 2016). At this point, the deck was used to play a trump game. While their use in fortune telling only appears in the 19th century, many of the figures from these medieval decks survive in contemporary tarot decks.

But back to the Visconti family.

According to legend, a dragon came to Milan and feasted on its women and children. Uberto Visconti slew the dragon, and thus took over the city (Abernethy 2020). There’s also a legend of a dragon named Tarantasio in Lake Gerundo that appears in Lombardy’s folklore. The lake no longer exists, but at the time, Tarantasio crawled out of the lake to eat children and animals. It also spread disease across the countryside.

One day, Tarantasio crawled out of the lake, ready to demand its next meal. Only this time, it didn’t face children or livestock. Instead, a great hero stood waiting, brandishing a mighty sword. The hero slew the dragon, ending its reign of terror. Some say it was Frederick Barbarossa, others name St Christopher, or in later centuries, people said it was one of the Visconti family (Secret Maps 2021).

Ghosts at Sforza

As you might imagine, the castle features several ghosts. Ludovico Maria Sforza apparently spends his eternity running away from the French. It’s odd that he would appear at the castle since they captured him in 1500, and he died in 1508 in Touraine. The headless Bianca Scappardone Visconti stalks the corridors and the screams of Beatrice d’Este continue to echo after she died in childbirth aged just 21.

La Dama Velata, or the Veiled Lady, wanders in the Sempione Park behind the castle. No one knows who she is or how long she’s been there, but those who meet her describe a woman dressed in black and wearing a black veil across her face. She seems desperate to find someone, and those who encounter her all feel compelled to help. She takes their hand and leads them to an old house in the park. At that point, she lifts the veil, which hides an empty skull (Abernethy 2020). In some versions of the story, the smell of violets accompanies sightings, and she disappears for weeks at a time if anyone upsets her.

Piazza Sant’Ambrogio

There’s a marble column to the left of the Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio, dating to the second century. It stands alone and is most notable for two deep holes in it.

According to legend, Satan made them.

St Ambrose walked in the church grounds and the Devil appeared. The saint simply wanted peace and quiet for his contemplations, but the Devil isn’t famous for silent meditation. Instead, he tormented the saint until Ambrose finally gave him an almighty kick.

So almighty, in fact, that he kicked the Devil right at the column. His horns stuck in the marble, holding the Devil fast until the following day. When he disappeared, locals believed he’d returned to Hell via the holes.

The legend claims the holes still lead to the underworld, and if you get close, you can smell the Styx, one of Hades’ rivers. Some even say you can see Satan driving a coach of the damned on the night before Easter Sunday (Abernethy 2020).

Teatro alla Scala

It wouldn’t be a folklore of a city post without a haunted theatre. La Teatro alla Scala is probably one of the world’s most famous theatres. Maria Theresa of Austria ordered La Scala’s construction and it opened in August 1778. Architects later modelled the Vienna Opera on the theatre.

La Scala’s name means ‘staircase’ because the theatre stands on the site of Santa Maria della Scala. That’s the church of the Holy Mary of the Staircase. It got its name because a mother put a statue of Mary on a staircase landing, and her sick child got better (Classic FM 2024).

The ghost of 19th-century soprano Maria Malibran apparently appears at the theatre. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find that much about it beyond that. Maria Callas’ ghost also appears on stage at La Scala Opera House from time to time. She seems to have loved Milan so much she didn’t want to leave (Abernethy 2020).

The Dancing Bull

We’re going to finish up this post with something a little more light-hearted. If you head to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele beside the Duomo, you’ll find a dancing bull mosaic.

You’re supposed to put your right heel on the bull’s testicles and spin around three times. If you manage it without falling over, you’ll get good luck, have a wish granted, or return to Milan.

Someone also told me that it would bring good fortune in terms of conception and fertility. I didn’t try it so I have no idea if it works or not, but it’s a very popular spot in the mall!

What do we make of these Milan legends?

The legends cover an interesting span of topics, from witch trials to the Devil, ghosts of famous people to veiled women, and even the origin of a traditional dish. Such stories become part of the tapestry of the city’s culture, and the tales involving the Visconti family are especially noteworthy given their importance to the city’s rise in power.

It’s impossible to tell how many ordinary people told these stories. Indeed, there’s often a worry that such stories are only created for the tourists. Yet in Milan’s case, so many are associated with specific locations. They give you an excuse to wander, to find Satanic columns, or marvel at a cathedral’s stained glass. Even if they are only for tourists, these stories will give you a different experience of the city.

So if you find yourself in Milan, use these sites as a starting point. Who knows what you’ll encounter while you’re there?

Have you been to Milan?

References

Abernethy, Celia (2020), ‘Legends & Ghost Stories of Milan’, Milano Style, https://milanostyle.com/legends-ghost-stories-of-milan/.

Classic FM (2024), ‘La Scala: 15 facts about the great Milan opera house’, Classic FM, https://www.classicfm.com/radio/shows-presenters/everything-you-ever-wanted-know/facts-la-scala/salieri/.

Cresci, Monica (2022), ‘Milan and the witches of Piazza Vetra, stories and legends’, Il Giornale, https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/litalia-scoprire/milano-e-streghe-piazza-vetra-storie-e-leggende-2076207.html.

Hohenhaus, Peter (2009-2024), ‘San Bernardino alle Ossa’, Dark Tourism, https://www.dark-tourism.com/index.php/15-countries/individual-chapters/1057-san-bernadino-alle-ossa.

Husband, Tim (2016), ‘Before Fortune-Telling: The History and Structure of Tarot Cards’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/articles/tarot.

Maya (2010), ‘San Bernardino alle Ossa’, Atlas Obscura, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/san-bernardino-alle-ossa.

Milan City Journal (2023), ‘5 fun facts about the statues on the Duomo Cathedral, Milan City Journal, https://themilancityjournal.com/statues-on-the-duomo-cathedral/.

Piccinini, Giulia (2023), ‘THE 7 most CURIOUS MONUMENTS of Milan’, Milano Citta Stato, https://www.milanocittastato.it/luoghi-nascosti/monumenti-di-milano/.

Secret Maps (2023), ‘Duomo of Milan – The legend of the dragon Tarantasio’, Secret Maps, https://www.secretmaps.net/en/duomo-of-milan-the-legend-of-the-dragon-tarantasio/.

Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano (no date 1), ‘The Legend of Risotto alla Milanese’, Google Arts and Culture Project, https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-legend-of-risotto-alla-milanese-veneranda-fabbrica-del-duomo-di-milano/vAUxhRe9GVJFKA?hl=en.

Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano (no date 2), ‘The Madonnina’, Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano, https://www.duomomilano.it/en/art-and-culture/the-madonnina/.

Wineandtravelitaly.com (2024), ‘Duomo Di Milano: Myths and Legends’, Wine and Travel Italy, https://wineandtravelitaly.com/what-the-travel-guides-dont-reveal-myths-and-legends-about-the-duomo-di-milano/.