Two cauldrons at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games will honor the legacy of Leonardo da Vinci. Organizers announced that, for the first time in Olympic and Paralympic Games history, two cauldrons will be simultaneously lit and extinguished in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. The cauldron design, resembling a sun and influenced by Leonardo’s intricate knot designs, has been unveiled. Leonardo, who spent a significant part of his life in Milan, produced many of his renowned works in the city.
The cauldrons, capable of opening and closing, have a diameter ranging from 3.1 to 4.5 meters and will encase the Olympic flame within a glass and metal structure. Positioned at the Arco della Pace in Milan and Piazza Dibona in Cortina, the cauldrons will be ignited simultaneously during the grand opening ceremony on Feb. 6 and extinguished on Feb. 22. They will then contain the Paralympic flame from March 6 to 15. Additionally, a special three to five-minute show will be presented hourly at the Milan cauldron during the evenings throughout the Olympics.