The Sparkling Jewel of Milan Awaits You

July 22, 2013 - PRLog -- Milan
The New and the Old
Milan is the capital of Lombardy, the northern Italian province bordering Switzerland. After Rome, Milan is the most populous city in Italy with a population of approximate 1.4 million. If the surrounding suburbs are included, the Greater Milan region contains over 5 million people. Although once a leader in manufacturing, emphasis has shifted in the past decade from industrial development to finance, tourism, fashion, and information services. Unlike Naples and Verona, Milan has a modern skyline with skyscrapers rising above the older sections of the city.
Celtic Milan
The area now occupied by the city of Milan was originally settled by Celts from Gaul. Little is known about the pre-historical period, but once it was taken over by Rome in 222 BC, the town was named Mediolanum since it was found in the middle of the country. Although the Ancient Romans constructed a number of buildings in Mediolanum, including baths, a circus, and an imperial palace, waves of invaders, including Visigoths, Ostragoths, and the armies of the Emperor Charlemagne basically destroyed the city over and over so little of the original, ancient town remains.
Leonardo da Vinci, during the Italian Renaissance, devised a system of canals to bring the waters of the Po River to Milan, facilitating trade. While this diversion did make trade easier to conduct, it might also have contributed to an outbreak of the Black Death, the Great Plague of Milan, which began in 1629. Subsequent Milanese history saw the city being used as a shuttlecock between various invaders until it was finally incorporated into the Italian state in the 19th Century.
Italy’s Most Modern City
It has often been said that Milan is the showcase of a modern Italy, and it is quite true that Milan presents a much more up to date image than do most of the other Italian cities. However, the Milanese have been wise to incorporate the past with the present so that the city straddles both the modern world and the ancient. In addition to the new buildings that have sprung up in the 20th and 21st Centuries, Milan has a much different look to it than do the other Italian cities, probably due to its northern location and its ties to more northerly parts of Europe. Lombardy itself offers a number of sightseeing opportunities.
If you see nothing else in Milan, a visit to the Duomo Cathedral is essential. It is the 3rd largest church in the world and might well be considered the centerpiece of Milan. Begun in the late 14th Century, it was not completed until the beginning of the 19th. A mix of styles, it contains over 3,000 sculptures. An elevator will take you to the roof of the cathedral where you can view now only all of Milan, but also the Alps when weather permits.
The canals that da Vinci designed are still in existence and you can take a boat trip along them where shopping and dining opportunities await you at the quayside.
Even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, you will want to sample some of the fare at Pasticceria Castelnuovo. This family-owned shop specializes in sweet treats of all kinds with an emphasis on small pastries. You can also enjoy delicious hot chocolate. The prices here are very reasonable and the service is excellent.
Proving that you needn’t have a lot of money to enjoy yourself, you can spend hours (or days) picking over the items offered at Milan’s flea markets. If you are looking for an antique, try Antiquariato sul Naviglio Grande, where over 400 dealers ‘open shop’ on the last Sunday of the month. For a flea market that offers a bit of everything, go to Papiniano, where you can find everything from pots and pans to designer clothing.

Please visit www.culturalitaly.com for more information about travel to Milan.