Very few churches in Italy took such a long time to build as Milan's towering Gothic Cathedral.
The foundation stone was laid long ago in 1386 under the patronage of Bishop Antonio da Saluzzo. Originally it was planned to use fired bricks but in 1387 Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti insisted on marble and the then more up-to-date International Gothic style. The five centuries it eventually took to complete the construction determined the very evident mixture of styles that are a characteristic of Milan's Cathedral. Lombard, German and French architects were called to supervise the "fabbrica" or building work. White marble, brought by waterways along the "Navigli" canals from a quarry at Condoglia di Mergozzo near Verbania in Val d'Ossola to the centre of Milan, was used according to the specific desire of Duke Gian Galeazzo Visconti to cover the façade. The Cathedral was consecrated in 1418 but not completed until the 19th century when Napoleon spurred on work to finally complete the façade.