Dialogo nel Buio

Dialogo nel Buio occupies the Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano and does something rare: it turns off every light. You walk the route in complete darkness, and touch, hearing, smell and taste take over from your eyes. It opened in 2005, and students make up a large share of its visitors.

The building around it dates to 1892 and carries the signature of architect Giuseppe Pirovano. He shaped it on the model of a neoclassical suburban villa. Doric, Ionic and Corinthian lesenes order the facade, while serliana windows and a broad pediment mark the piano nobile. Smooth rustication dresses the ground floor beneath them. Inside, busts and portraits of benefactors fill the atrium, and the Sala Barozzi concert hall glows with floral frescoes and musician medallions.

The darkness stretches well beyond the tour itself. Aperitivo al Buio serves an evening drink you never see, and Cena al Buio turns dinner over to taste and smell. The Escape Room al Buio sets problems that only your hands and ears can solve. Tastings and theatre performances unfold in the dark as well. In every one of them, the light stays off from start to finish.