Da Vinci’s Last Supper, la Vigna di Leonardo and la Casa degli Atellani
I have always been an admirer of all Leonardo Davinci’s creations; so when I knew we were visiting Milan, getting tickets for the Last Supper became one of the priorities of our travel plans.
The Last Supper mural is located inside the Cenacolo Vinciano museum, which once was the dining hall of the Santa Maria Delle Grazie convent, and is adjacent to the Santa Maria Delle Grazie church.
If you’ve already attempted to find tickets for the Last Supper, you know it is not an easy task. It’s a high-demand attraction, thus tickets have to be bought or reserved sometimes more than 3 months in advance depending on the season.
Even though we weren’t successful in finding tickets through the official site of the Cenacolo Vinciano Museum, I would recommend you start your search there. You might be in luck and find tickets starting at 16 EUROS on your first try, but most likely you will have to search on alternate sites. It is the end of July and there are no available reservations through September.
Other sites that I would recommend you to check are Viator and Musement. With Viator, you can have a guided tour for two of the Last Supper and the church for 153 EUROS or the Last Supper and the Sforza Castle for about 82 EUROS. At the time of our travel, we weren’t able to find tickets through Viator.
We were very disappointed at this point, and in a way had started to give up. Then I learned about Musement, and after just a quick look we had an available skip-the-line guided tour for the day we were in Milan. The only available time was meeting at 7:45 a.m. for an 8:15 a.m. tour. Even though it was very early, I would recommend you to be in the first group entering the museum. It was a pleasant experience with no lines or people around the piazza; the perfect time for beautiful pictures. We got a whole 20 min admiring DaVinci’s Last Supper; the guide told us that as the day progressed, the groups began to be pushed out very quickly to keep up with the schedule. Currently, it is allowed to take pictures without a flash.
After Last Supper, we continued with the Da Vinci theme and went to La Casa Degli Atellani located just across from the church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie. Within the boundaries of the property, stand a plot of land where once was a vineyard that belonged to Leonardo DaVinci; a gift from Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. La Vigna di Leonardo along with the Santa Marie Delle Grazie church and the Last Supper are some of the few standing places from the 15th century; the Allies destroyed most landmarks during World War II.
La Casa degli Atellani belonged to the Atellani family, a loyal supporter of the Sforza. The house is full of frescoes, Renaissance motifs, and sculptures that will transport you back in time. Within the beautiful Garden, almost at the end of the property, you can find La Vigna di Leonardo. The price of the audio tour is 10 EUROS at the door and about 12 EUROS from online reservations. Although this is the original plot of land, don’t expect to find vines from Davinci’s time. The plot was excavated not so long ago to extract the DNA from the original vines and vines of the same kind were replanted as an homage to Leonardo; so they are very young. For Leonardo enthusiasts like me, it is not about the vineyard, it is about walking on the land that he once owned and cared for.
QUICK TIP: You can now stay in La Casa degli Atenalli via the Atellani Apartments website. Even though the rooms have been renovated, the story and magic stay within the walls.
UPDATE 11/13/2023 – The updated price of the tickets is the following:
* Cenacolo Vinciano: Starting at 16 Euros for 1 Person
* Viator Last Supper and the Church tour tickets: From 153 Euros for 2 People
* Viator Last Supper and the Sforza Castle tour tickets: From 82 Euros For 2 People
* Musement Da Vinci’s Last Supper skip-the-line tickets and guided tour: From 59 Euros for 1 Person
* La Vigna di Leonardo: La Vigna di Leonardo is temporarily closed