Tourist information Milan

Duomo

Cathedral symbol of Milan, the Duomo is a late gothic masterpiece. Its construction started in 1386 d.c. and it was finished only in 1813, nearly 600 years later. The facade  of the cathedral was concluded for last. Some minor rework kept going for the whole 19th century.

The Cathedral building works were finally concluded only in the fifties, when the last tiles were inserted to complete the right gate of the facade.

The Duomo is famous for being tremendously big: it is the third biggest Church in the world, right after St. Peter’s Basilica and the Seville Cathedral; another amazing feature of the Duomo is its decorative abundance: the building is towered by 3400 statues, 96 Gargoyles and thousands of half-busts and stoneworks. Today the Duomo covers most part of its square and allows visitors to observe it from every side.

The best moment to do so is at late evening, when the sun is low it shines on the whole facade, brightening the pink-white Candoglia marble. The  “Madonnina”, a statue of the Virgin Mary, the protectress of the city, towers the whole cathedral from the highest spire, at 108,5 meters high

Teatro alla Scala

Undoubtedly the most famous theatre in the world. Opened the 3rd of August 1778 with Antonio Salieri’s play “L’Europa Riconosciuta” and two ballets of the Master De Baillou, it was designed by Piermarini, who had in mind a simple structure, in a slightly neoclassicism style.

The inside of La Scala, built in the particular horseshoe-shape, is entirely made of wood and its acustic is terrific. La Scala has 260 daisies, 4 balconies and 2 galleries.

Being La Scala globally recognised as the olympus of lyric music, every major artist exhibited on its stage and its season is among the most followed around the world. Annexed to La Scala we can find a museum where mementoes belonged to the greatest musicians, such as Arturo Toscanini, Franz Liszt, Gioacchino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi, are kept.

While visiting the museum, If no rehearsal is scheduled, it is possible to admire the theatre from one of its daisies.

Castello Sforzesco

Supposedly built in 1368, the castle was at first a simple military outpost.It was only thanks to Francesco Sforza, Lord of the city, that it became a impregnable fortress.

The rebuild works were undertaken by Antonio Averlino, called the Filarete, who realized the central tower, who took its name from him as the Filarete Tower. He also built the two fortified round ashlar towers and the Ghirlanda, a sort of fenced area outside its walls, who was later on destroyed and only its subway passage is nowadays visitable.

As Ludovico, son of Francesco Sforza, rose to power the castle started to lose its strictly military use and started to turn into the Sforza family residence, one that could compete both for luxury and art with the most important courts of Europe, also thanks to the aid of the genius Leonardo Da Vinci that improved both the defensive side as well as the decoration of it. Within the castle we may still find nowadays the Milan’s art collections, among those we can find the Pietà Rondanini of Michelangelo.

Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie e Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci

Santa Maria delle Grazie Church is one of the most important churches in Milan and one of the most important 1400 d.c. buildings in italy. The true luck that struck this church is the fact that in 1492 the Lord of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, decided to make his family mausoleum out of this church. Il Moro, as Ludovico Sforza was also called,  contacted the great architect Donato Bramante to project the majestic church’s tiburio.

The Lord of Milan also committed the task of painting the Last Supper on one of the walls of the refectorium where the convent monks used to eat to Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo realized his masterpiece and one among the most important piece of art in art history.

The last supper is the syntax of everyone of Leonardo’s study of optic, geometry and anatomy but most important is a painting able to take the breath out of the viewer for its beauty.

Remember to book your visit with large advance, because due to conservation policies, only few people are admitted in the room with the painting every day.

Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio

The Basilica is dedicated to the saint protector of Milan and second in importance only to the Duomo. Great masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, it is one of the oldest but better conserved churches in the world.  

Sant’Ambrogio was built in 379 to fulfill the desire of the Bishop Ambrogio, who will later be named Saint. Starting from 397 the Basilica hosts the human remain of the saint that are still visible in the crypt. Inside the Basilica we will find the “Golden Altar”, an excellent goldsmith masterpiece of Carolingian age by master Volvino.

Above the Altar we can find the ciborium, a singolar monument of the IX century built by four porphyry columns that holds a canopy decorated by colourful plasterworks.

The Basilica is preceded by the Atrium of Ansperto, a great rectangular space surrounded on three sides by a portico that culminates, on the fourth side, into the narthex from where it is possible to enter the Basilica.
The Atrium was built in the XI century above a similar construction of the early christian Basilica

Pinacoteca di Brera

Among the more than 60 city museum, the Brera Art Gallery is the most important one. The palace of Brera was built in 1651 as convent and than turned, by will of Maria Theresa of Austria, into an important scientific institute provided with astronomical observatory, library and bothanic garden (each one of them still visitable nowadays)

The Pinacoteca inside the Brera palace, was opened for public in 1809 by the will of Napoleon Bonaparte. Inside the Pinacoteca hosts one of the most important art collection of the whole Italy, comparable only to the Uffizi in Firenze.

While walking the hallways of the Pinacoteca you may encounter some among the greatest art masterpieces of the world.

Among them we can find paintings of Andrea Mantegna, Raffaello, Piero della Francesca, Giovanni Bellini, Tiziano, Lorenzo Lotto, Tintoretto, Bernardino Luini, Donato Bramante, Caravaggio, Pieter Paul Rubens, Antonie Van Dyck, Tiepolo, Canaletto, Francesco Hayez and many many others.

You have not taken a ride on the old trams

You can not think of a visit to Milan without taking a ride on one of its characteristic trams.

The electric tram invaded the Milanese streets at the end of the nineteenth century and immediately became the preferred means of transport to move around the city. Even today one of the most widespread models is the characteristic orange (in some cases yellow) with wooden interiors.

It is a 1928 model, called 1500, designed by the engineers Cuccoli and D’Alò on the model of the American Peter Witt.

The most interesting lines for a ride on a vintage tram are: the 1, which passes in front of the Scala, the Castle, the Triennale and the Arco della Pace, and the 2, which passes in front of the Duomo and the Arena and crosses the historic district of Brera.

If you have more time and want to experience a truly thrilling experience on board a tram, then a dinner on the ATMosphere is a must, a retro tastefully restored tram and turned into a rail restaurant where you can taste chef-made menus internationally renowned as you travel around the city.

The waiting times for the reservation are very long, so organize well in advance.

You have not walked in the city fog

Milan has always been a city full of fog. In the past the fog in Milan was often found and when it arrived it was so thick as to show nothing more. Much of the winter the Milanese passed it immersed in the fog.

Today things have changed, worsening winters, pollution control and a drastic reduction of cultivated fields outside the city have definitely reduced the scope of the phenomenon.

The arrival of fog in the city is an increasingly rare event to see. But when everything happens, it transforms. Instead of being a negative event, the fog in Milan is hailed as something magical, something that fades the world around us realizing a kind of amniotic happiness, making us wander the streets as wrapped in a bubble of solitude.

The fog transforms the city and makes the landscape that surrounds us alien and mysterious. With the fog Milan takes on symbolic meanings that are invisible on a sunny day. Seeing is believing.

You did not eat a Milanese cotoletta

Although the Austrians have been trying for years to prove that the cutlet is a typical dish of their country, the Milanese have historical documents that attest that in the city was already prepared around the year 1134.

Probably the most famous dish of Milanese cuisine, the cutlet must be a veal sirloin, rigorously with the bone, first passed in beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs and finally cooked in melted butter until the breading becomes golden and crisp.

Because of the considerable size many Milanese call the “elephant ear” cutlet.

The best restaurants in which to taste the real Milanese cutlet are: Trattoria La Pesa in via Fantoni, 26; Trattoria del Nuovo Macello in via Lombroso, 20; Trattoria Arlati in via Nota, 47; Osteria Brunello in corso Garibaldi, 117 and Da Martino in via Farini, 8.

You have not had an aperitif on the Naviglio

Completely opposed, like atmosphere, to the chic areas of the center, the Navigli stand out as one of the favorite places by the Milanese to spend their evenings.

The evening on the Navigli begins at 7 pm, just out of work, when the locals serve an aperitif. The typical Milanese happy hour provides, along with the most sought after cocktails or the most classic glass of wine, to eat a series of appetizers. Cold pasta, pizzas, meatballs, vegetables, pretzels and chips are so abundant that they often turn into a real dinner.

The best clubs in the Navigli area to try the typical Milanese aperitif are: Le Trottoir, in Piazza XXIV Maggio, 1; The Vinaccio, in Ripa di Porta Ticinese, 49; the Ostello Bello, in via Medici, 4; Pinch, in Ripa di Porta Ticinese, 63; and Mag Cafè, in Ripa di Porta Ticinese, 43.

The city of Milan, with its central position and the important motorway and railway junctions, is the ideal place to use as a base for a visit from all over Northern Italy. In fact, in about two hours by train you can easily reach Venice, Florence, Turin and Bologna. But many unmissable treasures are at even shorter distances.

Lake Como

Beyond the fame of Italian Hollywood brought by the many American stars who have chosen it for their holidays, Lake Como has much more to offer.

Composed of an incredible variety of landscapes, the shores of the lake are dotted with charming villages, while the hinterland from mountainous areas with high peaks and deep canyons. THE

the most beautiful and unmissable villages are Varenna, Bellagio, Cernobbio and Colico. But it should not be forgotten Como, with its medieval city atmosphere, made of high walls, cobbled streets and historic buildings, mixed with trendy shops and trendy clubs, creates the perfect fusion between past and future.

In addition to a walk along the lake, a visit to the Duomo is a must.

Sea of Liguria

About an hour and a half by car (a bit more by train) from Milan, Genoa is located and from there the whole of Liguria. Splendid sea, enchanting villages and some of the most prestigious places in the world.

Who would not want to sip a coffee in the square of Portofino or walk through the narrow alleys of Portovenere? But Liguria is also the charm of the Cinque Terre, the story told in the medieval towns of the hinterland and the timeless charm of a city like Genoa with its Old Port, the beautiful museums, the fundamental aquarium and the charm of a walk between the narrow alleys that lead to the sea.

Bergamo

A rare place, a city divided into two. Below the new, modern and dynamic city as befits a large center of Lombardy, high up the ancient city, enclosed, like a casket, among the Venetian walls that have recently become UNESCO heritage.

The walk along the streets leading from lower Bergamo to the gates of the old town is enchanting, and once you reach the old part you will feel catapulted back in time.

In Bergamo Alta you can not miss the historic Piazza Vecchia with some of the most beautiful buildings in the city: the Palazzo della Ragione, the Palazzo del Podestà, the Campanone, the Colleoni Chapel, the Cathedral of Sant’Alessandro and the Basilica of Santa Maria Greater.

At the foot of the ancient city, the Carrara Academy and the GAMeC are worth a visit, boasting two of the most significant museum collections in Italy