The Cathedral in the popular culture
movies
A lot of directors have shot some scenes in the cathedral, like Vittorio De Sica, Ermanno Olmi and Gabriele Salvatores . Different kind of films are set here, from fantasy like "Miracolo a Milano" to drama such as "L'albero degli zoccoli". Also comedies like "Happy family", "Cado dalle nubi" and some cult of the Vanzina brothers like "Eccezziunale...veramente", but the most viewed and remembered is the cult of Checco Zalone "Che bella giornata".
sport
The statue of the cathedral gives the name to one of the most famous football derbies in Europe. In fact the city is split in 2 teams: the supporters of ACMilan and the ones of Inter. They have the stadium in common, but also the cathedral, that is an important thing for football lovers of Milan.
The cathedral held the 90th anniversary of "Ferrari" , because of its proximity to the racetrack of Monza.
legends
The Holy Nail
Above the altar, there is a point marked with a red light: it is the point where a nail of the cross of Christ is kept. The legends tells that one day the archbishop Ambrogio saw a smith beating a nail but it wasn't foldable, so the priest took it and he understood that it was a relic. We don't know whether this is real but every year, since 1500, the Cathedral has held the "Rito della Nivola": a cloud-shaped wooden lift is used by the archbishop to reach the apse and he takes the nail that remains exposed on the altar until the Monday after Vespers so that the faithful can admire it.
The Ghost
A legends tells that the ghost of a woman called Carlina infests the cathedral and some witnesses say they have seen her.
On a cold and misty October day Carlina married Renzino and they left for Milan on honeymoon; they decided to go up to the Cathedral where the dragon statue sprouted gradually, which began to disturb the poor Carlina who carried in the heart the guilt of having granted herself to a young blond foreigner just before the wedding, becoming pregnant .
Carlina had decided not to say anything to the future bridegroom and to make him believe that his son was his, but that suggestive and silent place near the sky frightened her to such an extent that the new bride left the young man's hand and ran among the statues screaming in anguish for the weight she carried in her heart.
Suddenly her husband saw her fall into the void, her body was never found.