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4. Questions - Got a question about Milan then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
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6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Milan wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
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8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Milan site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Milan, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Milan, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{Infobox City|official_name = Comune di Milano|established_title =
Insubres settlement|established_date = c. 600 BC|established_title2 = Roman Republic foundation|established_date2 = 222 BC|nickname =|motto =|website = http://www.comune.milano.it|image_skyline = MailaenderDom.jpg|image_flag = Flag of Milan.svg|image_shield = Milano-Stemma.png|image_map = Milano posizione.png|map_caption =|subdivision_type = List of sovereign states|subdivision_name =
Italy|subdivision_type1 = [Regions of Italy|subdivision_name1 =
Lombardy|subdivision_name2 = [Province of Milan|leader_name = [Letizia Moratti demographics|population_as_of = [December 2006]|population_blank1 = Milanesi or Meneghini|timezone = Central European Time|utc_offset = +1|timezone_DST =|utc_offset_DST =|latd=45 |latm=28 |lats= |latNS=N |longd=09 |longm=10 |longs= |longEW=E|elevation_m = +120|elevation_ft = 394|postal_code_type = Postal codes|postal_code = 20100, 20121-20162|area_code = 02|blank_name =Patron saints] (
7 December)]:
Milan Media:Milan.ogg) is one of the largest cities in
Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy, and is one of the most highly developed urban centres in
Europe. The municipality (
Comune di Milano) has a population of 1.3 million. The population of the
urban area, that coincides with the
Province of Milan, is estimated as of 2006 to be 3,884,481 . Finally, the population of the
Milan metropolitan area counts over 7.4 million residents, the largest in Italy .The municipal border covers a relatively small area (about one-eighth of that of Rome) because of the historical development of high density centres in agriculturally rich Lombardy.
Milan is also renowned as one of the world capitals of
design and
fashionhttp://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_4_34/ai_106388962. Indeed the
English language word
milliner is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for its
fashion houses and shops (such as along
via Montenapoleone) and the
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (reputed to be the world's oldest shopping mall).The city hosted the World Exposition in 1906 and has submitted a bid to
Bureau International des Expositions to host the Expo (exhibition) in 2015.Inhabitants of Milan are referred to as "Milanese" (Italian:
Milanesi or informally
Meneghini or
Ambrosiani).
History
Etymology
The Celtic languages name for the settlement of the Insubres is not attested, but in the Roman name
Mediolanum the name element
-lanum is the Celtic equivalent of
-planum "plain'", thus Mediolanum: "in the midst of the plain", due to its location in a plain close to the confluence of two small rivers, the Olona and the Seveso. The origin of the name and of a boar as a symbol of the city are fancifully accounted for in
Andrea Alciato's
Emblemata (1584), beneath a woodcut of the first raising of the city walls, where a boar is seen lifted from the excavation, and the etymology of
Mediolanum given as "half-wool",
medius +
lanum; Alciato's "etymology" is intentionally far-fetched. explained in Latin and in French. The foundation of Milan is credited to two Celtic peoples, the
Bituriges and the
Aedui, having as their emblems a ram and a boar;
Bituricis vervex, Heduis dat sucula signum. therefore "The city’s symbol is a wool-bearing boar, an animal of double form, here with sharp bristles, there with sleek wool."
Laniger huic signum sus est, animálque biforme, Acribus hinc setis, lanitio inde levi. Alciato credits the most saintly and learned Ambrose for his account. Alciato,
Emblemata, Emblema II
The German name for the city is
Mailand, while in the local
Western Lombard dialect, the city's name is Milán, similar to the French.
Roman times
Around
400 BC, the Celtic Insubres inhabited Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered this settlement, which received the name
Mediolanum.After several centuries of Roman control, Milan was declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor
Diocletian in
293 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire (capital
Nicomedia) and his colleague Maximianus the Western one. Immediately Maximinian built several gigantic monuments, like a large circus (470 x 85 meters), the Thermae Erculee, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other services and buildings.
In the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor
Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for
Christians. The city was besieged by the
Visigoths in 402, and the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. Fifty years later (in
452), the Huns overran the city. In 539, the
Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan in the course of the so-called
Gothic War (535–552) against Byzantine Empire Emperor
Justinian I. Milan became part of the
Frankish Empire in 774. Subsequently it was part of the
Holy Roman Empire., sign of the power of the
House of Sforza
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, Milan prospered as a centre of trade due to its command of the rich plain of the Po and routes from Italy across the Alps. The war of conquest by Frederick I Barbarossa against the Lombard cities brought the destruction of much of Milan in
1162. After the founding of the
Lombard League in 1167, Milan took the leading role in this alliance. As a result of the independence that the Lombard cities gained in the Peace of Constance in 1183, Milan became a duchy. In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti became duke of Milan. In 1450, Milan passed to the noble
House of Sforza, which made Milan one of the leading cities of the Italian Renaissance.
Periods of Spanish, French and Austrian domination
The French king
Louis XII first laid claim to the duchy in 1492. At that time, Milan was defended by Swiss mercenaries. After Louis’ victory over the Swiss at the
Battle of Marignano, the duchy was promised to the French king Francis I of France. When the Habsburg Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor defeated Francis I at the Battle of Pavia in
1525, northern Italy, including Milan, passed to the House of
Habsburg. In
1556, Charles V abdicated in favour of his son
Philip II of Spain and his brother
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles’s Italian possessions, including Milan, passed to Philip II and the Spanish line of Habsburgs, while Ferdinand’s Austrian line of Habsburgs ruled the Holy Roman Empire.
However, in 1700 the Spanish line of Habsburgs was extinguished with the death of Charles II of Spain. After his death, the
War of the Spanish Succession began in
1701 with the occupation of all Spanish possessions by French troops backing the claim of the French Philip V of Spain to the Spanish throne. In 1704, the French were defeated in
Battle of Ramillies and Battle of Turin and were forced to yield northern Italy to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1713, the
Treaty of Utrecht formally confirmed Austrian sovereignty over most of Spain’s Italian possessions including
Lombardy and its capital, Milan.
19th Century
Napoleon conquered Lombardy in 1796, was crowned "king of Italy" in the Duomo, and Milan was declared capital of the
Cisalpine Republic. Once Napoleon’s occupation ended, the
Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy, and Milan, along with the
Veneto, to Austrian control in 1815.
During this period, Milan became a centre of lyric opera. Here Mozart wrote three operas, and in few years La Scala got the reference theatre in the word, with his premieres of Bellini, Donizetti,
Rossini and Verdi. Verdi himself is now tumulated in a precious Institute, the "Casa di Riposo per Musicisti", the Verdi's present to Milan. On the XIX century other important theatres was
La Cannobiana and the
Teatro Carcano.
On
March 18, 1848, the Milanese rebelled against Austrian rule, and Field Marshall
Joseph Radetzky von Radetz was forced to withdraw from the city temporarily. However, after defeating Italian forces at Battle of Custoza (1848) on
July 24, Radetzky was able to reassert Austrian control over Milan and northern Italy. However, Italian nationalists, championed by the
Kingdom of Sardinia, called for the removal of Austria in the interest of
Italian unification. Sardinia and France formed an alliance and defeated Austria at the
Battle of Solferino in
1859. Following this battle, Milan and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia, which soon gained control of most of Italy and in 1861 was rechristened as the Kingdom of Italy.
The political unification of Italy cemented Milan’s commercial dominance over northern Italy. It also led to a flurry of railway construction that made Milan the rail hub of northern Italy. Rapid industrialization put Milan at the centre of Italy’s leading industrial region. Meanwhile, as Milanese banks dominated Italy’s financial sphere, the city became the country’s leading financial centre. Milan’s economic growth brought a rapid expansion in the city’s area and population during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
20th Century
In
1919,
Benito Mussolini organized the
Blackshirts, who formed the core of
Italian fascism, in Milan. In 1922, Mussolini started his March on Rome from Milan. Milan suffered severe damage from British and American carpet bombings especially in 1944 during
World War II.
During the 1950s and 1960s, thousands of Italians, particularly from Southern Italy, moved to Milan to seek jobs within the city’s rapidly expanding economy and the population peaked at 1,723,000 in 1971. However, most of this population was lost during the '70s and '80s to the belt of new suburbs and small cities surrounding Milan. Nonetheless, Milan’s population seems to have stabilized, and there has been a slight increase in the population of the city since 2001.
Climate
Under the
Köppen climate classification Milan is typically classified as having a
Humid subtropical climate (Cfa). In contrast to most of Italy, which is famous for a comfortable Mediterranean climate, Milan's winters are typically damp and cold, while summers are hot and very humid. Average temperatures are -3/+6°C in January and +15/+28°C in July. Snowfalls were once common, sometimes with up to 40 cm (15 in) per year, less and less so in the last two decades. Humidity is quite high during the whole year and annual precipitation averages about 1000 mm (40 in). In the stereotypical image, the city is often shrouded in the fog characteristic of the Po Basin, although the removal of rice fields from the southern neighbourhoods, urban heating effect and the reduction of pollution levels have reduced this phenomenon in recent years.
{{Infobox Weather|single_line= Yes|location = Milan, Italy|Jan_Hi_°F = 44 |Jan_Hi_°C = 6|Feb_Hi_°F = 47 |Feb_Hi_°C = 8|Mar_Hi_°F = 56 |Mar_Hi_°C = 13|Apr_Hi_°F = 62 |Apr_Hi_°C = 16|May_Hi_°F = 70 |May_Hi_°C = 21|Jun_Hi_°F = 77 |Jun_Hi_°C = 25|Jul_Hi_°F = 83 |Jul_Hi_°C = 28|Aug_Hi_°F = 82 |Aug_Hi_°C = 27|Sep_Hi_°F = 75 |Sep_Hi_°C = 23|Oct_Hi_°F = 64 |Oct_Hi_°C = 17|Nov_Hi_°F = 52 |Nov_Hi_°C = 11|Dec_Hi_°F = 45 |Dec_Hi_°C = 7|Year_Hi_°F = 63 |Year_Hi_°C = 17|Jan_Lo_°F = 25 |Jan_Lo_°C = -3|Feb_Lo_°F = 27 |Feb_Lo_°C = -2|Mar_Lo_°F = 34 |Mar_Lo_°C = 1|Apr_Lo_°F = 40 |Apr_Lo_°C = 4|May_Lo_°F = 49 |May_Lo_°C = 9|Jun_Lo_°F = 55 |Jun_Lo_°C = 12|Jul_Lo_°F = 60 |Jul_Lo_°C = 15|Aug_Lo_°F = 60 |Aug_Lo_°C = 15|Sep_Lo_°F = 54 |Sep_Lo_°C = 12|Oct_Lo_°F = 44 |Oct_Lo_°C = 6|Nov_Lo_°F = 33 |Nov_Lo_°C = 0|Dec_Lo_°F = 26 |Dec_Lo_°C = -3|Year_Lo_°F = 42 |Year_Lo_°C = 5|Jan_Precip_inch = 2.0 |Jan_Precip_cm = 5 |Jan_Precip_mm =|Feb_Precip_inch = 2.4 |Feb_Precip_cm = 6 |Feb_Precip_mm =|Mar_Precip_inch = 3.5 |Mar_Precip_cm = 8 |Mar_Precip_mm =|Apr_Precip_inch = 4.9 |Apr_Precip_cm = 12 |Apr_Precip_mm =|May_Precip_inch = 4.9 |May_Precip_cm = 12 |May_Precip_mm =|Jun_Precip_inch = 3.5 |Jun_Precip_cm = 8 |Jun_Precip_mm =|Jul_Precip_inch = 2.5 |Jul_Precip_cm = 6 |Jul_Precip_mm =|Aug_Precip_inch = 3.5 |Aug_Precip_cm = 8 |Aug_Precip_mm =|Sep_Precip_inch = 2.7 |Sep_Precip_cm = 6 |Sep_Precip_mm =|Oct_Precip_inch = 3.3 |Oct_Precip_cm = 8 |Oct_Precip_mm =|Nov_Precip_inch = 4.2 |Nov_Precip_cm = 10 |Nov_Precip_mm =|Dec_Precip_inch = 2.0 |Dec_Precip_cm = 5 |Dec_Precip_mm =|Year_Precip_inch = 38.3 |Year_Precip_cm = 97 |Year_Precip_mm =|source =Weatherbase{{cite web| url =http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=66061&refer= |title =Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Milan, Italy | publisher=Weatherbase | year=2007 | accessdate=2007-04-07 | language = English -->|accessdate = February 2007-->
Landmarks
's "The Last Supper", in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan), Milan.Milan is one of the major artistic centres of northern Italy. Its chief landmarks include:
- Duomo di Milano, the second largest church in Italy and world's third, and the world's largest collection of marble statues with the widely visible golden Madonna statue on top of the spire, la Madunina (little Madonna), the symbol of Milan.
- Teatro alla Scala. Milan is also one of the most important centres in the world for Opera lirica, with his famous Teatro alla Scala (La Scala, theatre).
- The Castello Sforzesco
- The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
- The Palaeo-Christian Basilica of San Lorenzo, Milan
- The Biblioteca Ambrosiana, containing drawings and notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci among its vast holdings of books, manuscripts, and drawings, and is one of the main repositories of European culture. The city is also the home of the Pinacoteca Brera.
- The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan), a museum next to it houses one of the most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper (Leonardo) (L'ultima cena or Il cenacolo)
- The church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, with a famous trompe l'oeil traditionally ascribed to Bramante
- The Pinacoteca di Brera, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum and the Musei del Castello galleries, which host a great number of pictorial masterpieces
- The Cimitero Monumentale di Milano.
Demographics
The city proper (
Comune di Milano) has a population of 1,303,437 inhabitants (2006). Between 1991 to 2001, the city proper has lost 113,084 inhabitants (8.3 percent) mostly due to suburban sprawl and expulsion of population from the inner city centre, which is now almost fully dedicated to offices and commerce. The population of the
urban area, that coincides with the
Province of Milan, is estimated as of 2006 to be 3,884,481 . Finally, the official population of the Milan Metropolitan area counts over 7.4 millions residents, the largest in Italy .As of 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 292,204 foreign-born immigrants live in Milan Urban Area, equal to 7.6% of total population.
Economy
, symbol of the post-war economic boomMilan is one of the major financial and business centres of the world. The city is the seat of the Italian Stock Exchange (the Borsa Italiana)"Piazza Affari" and its hinterland is an
avant-garde industrial area. Milan was included in a list of ten "Alpha world cities" by Peter J. Taylor and Robert E. Lang of the
Brookings Institution in the economic report "U.S. Cities in the 'World City Network'" ( Key Findings, ).
Milan is also well known as the seat of the
Alfa Romeo motorcar company, for its silk production, and as one of the world's capitals for
Fashion design#Italian fashion design and a world leader for design.
Milan also provides directional functions for the whole of Lombardy, as its industrial base has been externalized throughout the region in the 1960s-70s.
The Fiera Milano, the city's Exhibition Centre and Trade Fair complex, is notable. This new fairground, in the north-western suburb of
Pero and Rho (Italy), opened in April 2005, making the Fiera Milano the largest trade fair complex in the world.
Milan of the future
At present, Milan is experiencing a significant architectural and urban design renaissance. Many new construction projects are under way with the aim of rehabilitating disused, peripheral industrial areas, including entire quarters. Examples of these projects include: the addition to the Teatro alla Scala; the
CityLife (Milan) project in the old "fiera" site; the European Library; the new quarter Santa Giulia; and the Porta Nuova project in the Garibaldi-Republica zone. Famous architects are involved in the construction of this "new" Milan, such as Renzo Piano,
Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid,
Massimiliano Fuksas and
Daniel Libeskind. These major works will give Milan a new skyline no longer dominated by the Duomo di Milano and the
Pirelli Tower.
This urban rebirth is further fostered by the bid to host
Expo 2015.
List of projects
- Montecity-Rogoredo: 612.900 m^2 + 330.000 m^2 park
- CityLife (Milan) (2012):
- Porta Nuova - Garibaldi/Repubblica (2012): 260.000 m^2
- Certosa (2008)
- Porta Vittoria: 300.000 m^2
- Rubattino: 611.000 m^2
- Bovisa: new Politecnico di Milano campus
Languages
Together with Italian language, a third of western
Lombardy population can speak Western Lombard language, also known as Insubric or Milanese language. In Milan, they speak the
Milanese dialect, the literary variant of this language. It mustn't be confused with the Milan dialect of
Italian language, which is the local variety of the national language.
Religion
) atop the main spire of the cathedral, a baroque gilded bronze artwork.Milan's population, like that of Italy as a whole, is overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic. Other religions practised includeBuddhismhttp://www.lankaramaya.com/,
Judaism,
Islamhttp://orthodoxeurope.org/page/8/4.aspxhttp://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=7230and
Protestantismhttp://www.protestantiamilano.it/http://www.milanovaldese.it/.
The Ambrosian Rite
Milan has its own historic Catholic rite known as the
Ambrosian Rite (it:
rito ambrosiano). It varies slightly from the typical Catholic rite (the
Roman, used in all other western regions), with some differences in the
liturgy and mass celebrations, and in the calendar (for example, the date of
carnival is celebrated some days after the common date). The Ambrosian rite is also practised in other surrounding locations in
Lombardy and in the
Swiss canton of Ticino.
Another important difference concerns the liturgical music. The
Gregorian chant was completely unused in Milan and surrounding areas, because the official one was its own Ambrosian chant, definitively established by the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and earlier than the Gregorian . To preserve this music there has developed the unique
schola cantorum, a college, and an Institute in partnership with the "Pontifical Ambrosian Institute of Sacred Music" (PIAMS) in Rome .
Food
Like most cities in Italy, Milan and its surrounding area has its own regional cuisine. Milanese cuisine includes "
Cotoletta", a fried veal (pork and turkey are used, though) fillet in bread crumbs (which some say is of
Austrian origin, calling it "Wienerschnitzel"). Other typical dishes are
cassoeula (stewed pork rib chops and sausage with Savoy cabbage and tomato sauce),
ossobuco (stewed marrow-bone with tomato or lemon sauce),
Risotto (with saffron, white wine and beef marrow),
busecca (stewed tripe with beans and tomato sauce), and
brasato (stewed beef or pork with wine and potatoes). Season-related pastries include
chiacchiere (fried flat cookies) and
tortelli (fried spherical cookies) for
Carnival,
colomba (glazed cake shaped as a dove) for Easter,
pane dei morti ("Bread of the Dead", cookies aromatized with cinnamon) for
All Soul's Day and
panettone for Christmas. The
salame milanese, a salami with a very thin grain, is widespread throughout Italy. The best known Milanese cheese is
gorgonzola cheese.
Education
Milan is home to many universities and other institutions of higher learning.
General universities
- University of Milan
- University of Milan Bicocca
Medical
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University
Architecture and engineering
Business, economic and social
Language, art and music
Fashion and design
Other
- I.S.E.F. Milano - Centro accademico sportivo "Rino Fenaroli"
Transportation
Airports
The city has a large international airport known as
Malpensa International Airport (
MXP), located near the industrial towns of
Busto Arsizio and
Gallarate and connected to the downtown with the "
Malpensa Express" railway service (from Cadorna Station). Malpensa was designed by the famous Ettore Sottsass. Milan also has the
Linate Airport (
LIN) within the city limits (for European and domestic traffic), connected with bus line 73 (from S. Babila). A third airport is Orio al Serio Airport (
BGY), close to the city of
Bergamo. Vergiate, Venegono, Bresso, Voghera and Montichiari are additional airports in the region.
Subways, tramways, trolleybuses and buses
{{Infobox City|official_name = Comune di Milano|established_title = Insubres settlement|established_date = c. 600 BC|established_title2 = Roman Republic foundation|established_date2 = 222 BC|nickname =|motto =|website = http://www.comune.milano.it|image_skyline = MailaenderDom.jpg|image_flag = Flag of Milan.svg|image_shield = Milano-Stemma.png|image_map = Milano posizione.png|map_caption =|subdivision_type = List of sovereign states|subdivision_name =
Italy|subdivision_type1 = [Regions of Italy|subdivision_name1 = Lombardy|subdivision_name2 = [Province of Milan|leader_name = [Letizia Moratti demographics|population_as_of = [December 2006]|population_blank1 = Milanesi or Meneghini|timezone =
Central European Time|utc_offset = +1|timezone_DST =|utc_offset_DST =|latd=45 |latm=28 |lats= |latNS=N |longd=09 |longm=10 |longs= |longEW=E|elevation_m = +120|elevation_ft = 394|postal_code_type = Postal codes|postal_code = 20100, 20121-20162|area_code = 02|blank_name =
Patron saints] (7 December)]:
Milan Media:Milan.ogg) is one of the largest cities in
Italy, located in the plains of
Lombardy, and is one of the most highly developed urban centres in Europe. The municipality (
Comune di Milano) has a population of 1.3 million. The population of the
urban area, that coincides with the Province of Milan, is estimated as of 2006 to be 3,884,481 . Finally, the population of the Milan metropolitan area counts over 7.4 million residents, the largest in Italy .The municipal border covers a relatively small area (about one-eighth of that of
Rome) because of the historical development of high density centres in agriculturally rich
Lombardy.
Milan is also renowned as one of the world capitals of design and
fashionhttp://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_4_34/ai_106388962. Indeed the English language word
milliner is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as along via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo (reputed to be the world's oldest shopping mall).The city hosted the World Exposition in 1906 and has submitted a bid to
Bureau International des Expositions to host the
Expo (exhibition) in 2015.Inhabitants of Milan are referred to as "Milanese" (Italian:
Milanesi or informally
Meneghini or
Ambrosiani).
History
Etymology
The
Celtic languages name for the settlement of the
Insubres is not attested, but in the Roman name
Mediolanum the name element
-lanum is the Celtic equivalent of
-planum "plain'", thus Mediolanum: "in the midst of the plain", due to its location in a plain close to the confluence of two small rivers, the Olona and the Seveso. The origin of the name and of a
boar as a symbol of the city are fancifully accounted for in
Andrea Alciato's
Emblemata (1584), beneath a woodcut of the first raising of the city walls, where a boar is seen lifted from the excavation, and the etymology of
Mediolanum given as "half-wool",
medius +
lanum; Alciato's "etymology" is intentionally far-fetched. explained in Latin and in French. The foundation of Milan is credited to two Celtic peoples, the
Bituriges and the
Aedui, having as their emblems a ram and a boar;
Bituricis vervex, Heduis dat sucula signum. therefore "The city’s symbol is a wool-bearing boar, an animal of double form, here with sharp bristles, there with sleek wool."
Laniger huic signum sus est, animálque biforme, Acribus hinc setis, lanitio inde levi. Alciato credits the most saintly and learned Ambrose for his account. Alciato,
Emblemata, Emblema II
The German name for the city is
Mailand, while in the local Western Lombard dialect, the city's name is Milán, similar to the French.
Roman times
Around
400 BC, the Celtic
Insubres inhabited Milan and the surrounding region. In
222 BC, the Romans conquered this settlement, which received the name
Mediolanum.After several centuries of Roman control, Milan was declared the capital of the
Western Roman Empire by Emperor
Diocletian in
293 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire (capital Nicomedia) and his colleague Maximianus the Western one. Immediately Maximinian built several gigantic monuments, like a large circus (470 x 85 meters), the Thermae Erculee, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other services and buildings.
In the
Edict of Milan of
313, Emperor
Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians. The city was besieged by the
Visigoths in
402, and the imperial residence was moved to
Ravenna. Fifty years later (in
452), the
Huns overran the city. In
539, the
Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan in the course of the so-called
Gothic War (535–552) against
Byzantine Empire Emperor Justinian I. Milan became part of the Frankish Empire in 774. Subsequently it was part of the Holy Roman Empire., sign of the power of the House of Sforza
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, Milan prospered as a centre of trade due to its command of the rich plain of the Po and routes from Italy across the Alps. The war of conquest by Frederick I Barbarossa against the Lombard cities brought the destruction of much of Milan in 1162. After the founding of the Lombard League in 1167, Milan took the leading role in this alliance. As a result of the independence that the Lombard cities gained in the
Peace of Constance in
1183, Milan became a duchy. In 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti became duke of Milan. In
1450, Milan passed to the noble House of Sforza, which made Milan one of the leading cities of the Italian
Renaissance.
Periods of Spanish, French and Austrian domination
The French king Louis XII first laid claim to the duchy in 1492. At that time, Milan was defended by Swiss mercenaries. After Louis’ victory over the Swiss at the Battle of Marignano, the duchy was promised to the French king Francis I of France. When the Habsburg Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor defeated Francis I at the
Battle of Pavia in 1525, northern Italy, including Milan, passed to the House of
Habsburg. In
1556, Charles V abdicated in favour of his son
Philip II of Spain and his brother
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles’s Italian possessions, including Milan, passed to Philip II and the Spanish line of Habsburgs, while Ferdinand’s Austrian line of Habsburgs ruled the Holy Roman Empire.
However, in 1700 the Spanish line of Habsburgs was extinguished with the death of
Charles II of Spain. After his death, the
War of the Spanish Succession began in
1701 with the occupation of all Spanish possessions by French troops backing the claim of the French Philip V of Spain to the Spanish throne. In
1704, the French were defeated in
Battle of Ramillies and Battle of Turin and were forced to yield northern Italy to the Austrian Habsburgs. In
1713, the
Treaty of Utrecht formally confirmed Austrian sovereignty over most of Spain’s Italian possessions including Lombardy and its capital, Milan.
19th Century
Napoleon conquered Lombardy in 1796, was crowned "king of Italy" in the Duomo, and Milan was declared capital of the
Cisalpine Republic. Once Napoleon’s occupation ended, the
Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy, and Milan, along with the
Veneto, to Austrian control in
1815.
During this period, Milan became a centre of lyric opera. Here
Mozart wrote three operas, and in few years
La Scala got the reference theatre in the word, with his premieres of
Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi.
Verdi himself is now tumulated in a precious Institute, the "Casa di Riposo per Musicisti", the Verdi's present to Milan. On the XIX century other important theatres was
La Cannobiana and the
Teatro Carcano.
On
March 18,
1848, the Milanese rebelled against Austrian rule, and Field Marshall Joseph Radetzky von Radetz was forced to withdraw from the city temporarily. However, after defeating Italian forces at
Battle of Custoza (1848) on July 24, Radetzky was able to reassert Austrian control over Milan and northern Italy. However, Italian nationalists, championed by the
Kingdom of Sardinia, called for the removal of Austria in the interest of Italian unification. Sardinia and France formed an alliance and defeated Austria at the
Battle of Solferino in
1859. Following this battle, Milan and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia, which soon gained control of most of Italy and in
1861 was rechristened as the Kingdom of Italy.
The political unification of Italy cemented Milan’s commercial dominance over northern Italy. It also led to a flurry of railway construction that made Milan the rail hub of northern Italy. Rapid industrialization put Milan at the centre of Italy’s leading industrial region. Meanwhile, as Milanese banks dominated Italy’s financial sphere, the city became the country’s leading financial centre. Milan’s economic growth brought a rapid expansion in the city’s area and population during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
20th Century
In 1919,
Benito Mussolini organized the
Blackshirts, who formed the core of Italian fascism, in Milan. In
1922, Mussolini started his
March on Rome from Milan. Milan suffered severe damage from British and American carpet bombings especially in 1944 during World War II.
During the 1950s and 1960s, thousands of Italians, particularly from
Southern Italy, moved to Milan to seek jobs within the city’s rapidly expanding economy and the population peaked at 1,723,000 in 1971. However, most of this population was lost during the '70s and '80s to the belt of new suburbs and small cities surrounding Milan. Nonetheless, Milan’s population seems to have stabilized, and there has been a slight increase in the population of the city since 2001.
Climate
Under the
Köppen climate classification Milan is typically classified as having a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa). In contrast to most of Italy, which is famous for a comfortable
Mediterranean climate, Milan's winters are typically damp and cold, while summers are hot and very humid. Average temperatures are -3/+6°C in January and +15/+28°C in July. Snowfalls were once common, sometimes with up to 40 cm (15 in) per year, less and less so in the last two decades. Humidity is quite high during the whole year and annual precipitation averages about 1000 mm (40 in). In the stereotypical image, the city is often shrouded in the fog characteristic of the Po Basin, although the removal of rice fields from the southern neighbourhoods, urban heating effect and the reduction of pollution levels have reduced this phenomenon in recent years.
{{Infobox Weather|single_line= Yes|location = Milan, Italy|Jan_Hi_°F = 44 |Jan_Hi_°C = 6|Feb_Hi_°F = 47 |Feb_Hi_°C = 8|Mar_Hi_°F = 56 |Mar_Hi_°C = 13|Apr_Hi_°F = 62 |Apr_Hi_°C = 16|May_Hi_°F = 70 |May_Hi_°C = 21|Jun_Hi_°F = 77 |Jun_Hi_°C = 25|Jul_Hi_°F = 83 |Jul_Hi_°C = 28|Aug_Hi_°F = 82 |Aug_Hi_°C = 27|Sep_Hi_°F = 75 |Sep_Hi_°C = 23|Oct_Hi_°F = 64 |Oct_Hi_°C = 17|Nov_Hi_°F = 52 |Nov_Hi_°C = 11|Dec_Hi_°F = 45 |Dec_Hi_°C = 7|Year_Hi_°F = 63 |Year_Hi_°C = 17|Jan_Lo_°F = 25 |Jan_Lo_°C = -3|Feb_Lo_°F = 27 |Feb_Lo_°C = -2|Mar_Lo_°F = 34 |Mar_Lo_°C = 1|Apr_Lo_°F = 40 |Apr_Lo_°C = 4|May_Lo_°F = 49 |May_Lo_°C = 9|Jun_Lo_°F = 55 |Jun_Lo_°C = 12|Jul_Lo_°F = 60 |Jul_Lo_°C = 15|Aug_Lo_°F = 60 |Aug_Lo_°C = 15|Sep_Lo_°F = 54 |Sep_Lo_°C = 12|Oct_Lo_°F = 44 |Oct_Lo_°C = 6|Nov_Lo_°F = 33 |Nov_Lo_°C = 0|Dec_Lo_°F = 26 |Dec_Lo_°C = -3|Year_Lo_°F = 42 |Year_Lo_°C = 5|Jan_Precip_inch = 2.0 |Jan_Precip_cm = 5 |Jan_Precip_mm =|Feb_Precip_inch = 2.4 |Feb_Precip_cm = 6 |Feb_Precip_mm =|Mar_Precip_inch = 3.5 |Mar_Precip_cm = 8 |Mar_Precip_mm =|Apr_Precip_inch = 4.9 |Apr_Precip_cm = 12 |Apr_Precip_mm =|May_Precip_inch = 4.9 |May_Precip_cm = 12 |May_Precip_mm =|Jun_Precip_inch = 3.5 |Jun_Precip_cm = 8 |Jun_Precip_mm =|Jul_Precip_inch = 2.5 |Jul_Precip_cm = 6 |Jul_Precip_mm =|Aug_Precip_inch = 3.5 |Aug_Precip_cm = 8 |Aug_Precip_mm =|Sep_Precip_inch = 2.7 |Sep_Precip_cm = 6 |Sep_Precip_mm =|Oct_Precip_inch = 3.3 |Oct_Precip_cm = 8 |Oct_Precip_mm =|Nov_Precip_inch = 4.2 |Nov_Precip_cm = 10 |Nov_Precip_mm =|Dec_Precip_inch = 2.0 |Dec_Precip_cm = 5 |Dec_Precip_mm =|Year_Precip_inch = 38.3 |Year_Precip_cm = 97 |Year_Precip_mm =|source =Weatherbase{{cite web| url =http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=66061&refer= |title =Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Milan, Italy | publisher=Weatherbase | year=2007 | accessdate=2007-04-07 | language = English -->|accessdate = February 2007-->
Landmarks
's "The Last Supper", in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan), Milan.Milan is one of the major artistic centres of northern Italy. Its chief landmarks include:
- Duomo di Milano, the second largest church in Italy and world's third, and the world's largest collection of marble statues with the widely visible golden Madonna statue on top of the spire, la Madunina (little Madonna), the symbol of Milan.
- Teatro alla Scala. Milan is also one of the most important centres in the world for Opera lirica, with his famous Teatro alla Scala (La Scala, theatre).
- The Castello Sforzesco
- The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
- The Palaeo-Christian Basilica of San Lorenzo, Milan
- The Biblioteca Ambrosiana, containing drawings and notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci among its vast holdings of books, manuscripts, and drawings, and is one of the main repositories of European culture. The city is also the home of the Pinacoteca Brera.
- The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan), a museum next to it houses one of the most famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper (Leonardo) (L'ultima cena or Il cenacolo)
- The church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, with a famous trompe l'oeil traditionally ascribed to Bramante
- The Pinacoteca di Brera, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum and the Musei del Castello galleries, which host a great number of pictorial masterpieces
- The Cimitero Monumentale di Milano.
Demographics
The city proper (
Comune di Milano) has a population of 1,303,437 inhabitants (2006). Between 1991 to 2001, the city proper has lost 113,084 inhabitants (8.3 percent) mostly due to suburban sprawl and expulsion of population from the inner city centre, which is now almost fully dedicated to offices and commerce. The population of the
urban area, that coincides with the Province of Milan, is estimated as of 2006 to be 3,884,481 . Finally, the official population of the Milan Metropolitan area counts over 7.4 millions residents, the largest in Italy .As of 2006, the Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated that 292,204 foreign-born immigrants live in Milan Urban Area, equal to 7.6% of total population.
Economy
, symbol of the post-war economic boomMilan is one of the major financial and business centres of the world. The city is the seat of the Italian Stock Exchange (the Borsa Italiana)"Piazza Affari" and its hinterland is an
avant-garde industrial area. Milan was included in a list of ten "Alpha world cities" by Peter J. Taylor and Robert E. Lang of the Brookings Institution in the economic report "U.S. Cities in the 'World City Network'" ( Key Findings, ).
Milan is also well known as the seat of the Alfa Romeo motorcar company, for its
silk production, and as one of the world's capitals for
Fashion design#Italian fashion design and a world leader for design.
Milan also provides directional functions for the whole of Lombardy, as its industrial base has been externalized throughout the region in the 1960s-70s.
The Fiera Milano, the city's Exhibition Centre and Trade Fair complex, is notable. This new fairground, in the north-western suburb of Pero and
Rho (Italy), opened in April 2005, making the Fiera Milano the largest trade fair complex in the world.
Milan of the future
At present, Milan is experiencing a significant architectural and urban design renaissance. Many new construction projects are under way with the aim of rehabilitating disused, peripheral industrial areas, including entire quarters. Examples of these projects include: the addition to the
Teatro alla Scala; the
CityLife (Milan) project in the old "fiera" site; the European Library; the new quarter Santa Giulia; and the Porta Nuova project in the Garibaldi-Republica zone. Famous architects are involved in the construction of this "new" Milan, such as
Renzo Piano, Norman Foster,
Zaha Hadid,
Massimiliano Fuksas and
Daniel Libeskind. These major works will give Milan a new skyline no longer dominated by the Duomo di Milano and the
Pirelli Tower.
This urban rebirth is further fostered by the bid to host Expo 2015.
List of projects
- Montecity-Rogoredo: 612.900 m^2 + 330.000 m^2 park
- CityLife (Milan) (2012):
- Porta Nuova - Garibaldi/Repubblica (2012): 260.000 m^2
- Certosa (2008)
- Porta Vittoria: 300.000 m^2
- Rubattino: 611.000 m^2
- Bovisa: new Politecnico di Milano campus
Languages
Together with Italian language, a third of western
Lombardy population can speak
Western Lombard language, also known as Insubric or Milanese language. In Milan, they speak the Milanese dialect, the literary variant of this language. It mustn't be confused with the Milan dialect of
Italian language, which is the local variety of the national language.
Religion
) atop the main spire of the cathedral, a baroque gilded bronze artwork.Milan's population, like that of Italy as a whole, is overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic. Other religions practised includeBuddhismhttp://www.lankaramaya.com/,Judaism,
Islamhttp://orthodoxeurope.org/page/8/4.aspxhttp://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=7230and
Protestantismhttp://www.protestantiamilano.it/http://www.milanovaldese.it/.
The Ambrosian Rite
Milan has its own historic Catholic rite known as the
Ambrosian Rite (it:
rito ambrosiano). It varies slightly from the typical Catholic rite (the
Roman, used in all other western regions), with some differences in the
liturgy and mass celebrations, and in the calendar (for example, the date of
carnival is celebrated some days after the common date). The Ambrosian rite is also practised in other surrounding locations in
Lombardy and in the Swiss canton of
Ticino.
Another important difference concerns the liturgical music. The Gregorian chant was completely unused in Milan and surrounding areas, because the official one was its own Ambrosian chant, definitively established by the
Council of Trent (1545-1563) and earlier than the Gregorian . To preserve this music there has developed the unique
schola cantorum, a college, and an Institute in partnership with the "Pontifical Ambrosian Institute of Sacred Music" (PIAMS) in Rome .
Food
Like most cities in Italy, Milan and its surrounding area has its own regional cuisine. Milanese cuisine includes "Cotoletta", a fried veal (pork and turkey are used, though) fillet in bread crumbs (which some say is of Austrian origin, calling it "Wienerschnitzel"). Other typical dishes are
cassoeula (stewed pork rib chops and sausage with Savoy cabbage and tomato sauce),
ossobuco (stewed marrow-bone with tomato or lemon sauce),
Risotto (with saffron, white wine and beef marrow),
busecca (stewed tripe with beans and tomato sauce), and
brasato (stewed beef or pork with wine and potatoes). Season-related pastries include
chiacchiere (fried flat cookies) and
tortelli (fried spherical cookies) for Carnival,
colomba (glazed cake shaped as a dove) for Easter,
pane dei morti ("Bread of the Dead", cookies aromatized with cinnamon) for All Soul's Day and
panettone for Christmas. The
salame milanese, a
salami with a very thin grain, is widespread throughout Italy. The best known Milanese cheese is gorgonzola cheese.
Education
Milan is home to many universities and other institutions of higher learning.
General universities
- University of Milan
- University of Milan Bicocca
Medical
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University
Architecture and engineering
Business, economic and social
Language, art and music
Fashion and design
Other
- I.S.E.F. Milano - Centro accademico sportivo "Rino Fenaroli"
Transportation
Airports
The city has a large international airport known as
Malpensa International Airport (
MXP), located near the industrial towns of Busto Arsizio and Gallarate and connected to the downtown with the "
Malpensa Express" railway service (from Cadorna Station). Malpensa was designed by the famous Ettore Sottsass. Milan also has the
Linate Airport (
LIN) within the city limits (for European and domestic traffic), connected with bus line 73 (from S. Babila). A third airport is
Orio al Serio Airport (
BGY), close to the city of
Bergamo. Vergiate, Venegono, Bresso, Voghera and Montichiari are additional airports in the region.
Subways, tramways, trolleybuses and buses
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