Last Supper enshrined for 5 centuries

MILAN - In the heart of Milan, there is a gem local people sometimes call the "time machine".

It is not a reference to any high-tech invention, as one may imagine, nor to any futuristic device. It is the Dominican Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, lying in a small medieval square not far from the city center, where an ancient masterpiece has been enshrined and preserved for more than five centuries.

On the north wall of the convent's refectory - protected behind a series of airtight doors - visitors can reach The Last Supper by Renaissance maestro Leonardo da Vinci.