Milan Milano
—  Comune  —
Comune di Milano
From top, clockwise: Porta Nuova Business District, Duomo, San Siro Stadium, Parco Sempione with the Arch of Peace in the background, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): The Moral Capital of Italy[1]
Milan Location of Milan in Italy
Coordinates: 45°27′51″N 09°11′25″E / 45.46417°N 9.19028°E / 45.46417; 9.19028Coordinates: 45°27′51″N 09°11′25″E / 45.46417°N 9.19028°E / 45.46417; 9.19028
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Milan (MI)
Settled by Celts	as Mediolanum c. 396 BC
Government
• Mayor	Giuliano Pisapia (Independent – Centre-left)
Area
• Total	181.76 km2 (70.18 sq mi)
Elevation	120 m (390 ft)
Population (30 September 2011)[2]
• Total	1,338,436
• Density	7,400/km2 (19,000/sq mi)
Demonym	Milanees/Milanese
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	20100, 20121-20162
Dialing code	02
Patron saint	Ambrose
Saint day	7 December
Website	Official website

Milan (Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno] ( listen); Lombard: [miˈlan]; Latin: Mediolanum) is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital of Lombardy as well as of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area is the 5th largest in EU and the largest in Italy with an estimated population of approximately 5 million.^[3] The growth of many suburbs and satellite settlements around the city proper, following the Italian economic miracle of 1950s–60s and massive commuting flows, suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded well beyond the boundaries of its administrative limits and its agglomeration, creating a region of approximately 9,3 million people.^[4] It has been suggested that the Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density.^[5] Its health care and education system is considered one of the best of Europe.

Milan was founded by the Insubres, a Celtic people. The city was later captured by the Romans in 222 BC, and later was the capital of the Western Roman Empire from 286 until 402 AD. Milan became one of the most prosperous Italian cities during the High Middle Ages, playing a primary role in the Lombard League. Later Milan became the capital of the Duchy of Milan, being ruled by the Visconti, the Sforza, the Spanish and the Austrians. In 1796, Milan was conquered by the French troops of Napoleon, only to be given again to the Austrian Empire at the Congress of Vienna of 1815. In 1859 the city was eventually annexed to the House of Savoy, and soon started to lead the industrialization process of the new Kingdom of Italy. During World War II, the city was badly affected by Allied bombings, and after German occupation in 1943, Milan became the main centre of the Italian resistance movement.^[1] In post-war years, Milan enjoyed a prolonged economic boom, attracting large flows of immigrants from Southern Italy.^[1] During the past three decades, the city has seen a dramatic rise in the number of international migrants, and today 15.2% of Milan's population is foreign born.^[6]

Milan is the main industrial, commercial and financial centre of Italy. Its business district hosts the Italian Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national banks and multinational companies. The city is recognized as a major world fashion^[7] and design^[8] capital, and it has thus been ranked by GaWC as an Alpha world city in 2010,^[9] as well as the 42nd most important global city.^[10] Thanks to its important museums, theatres and landmarks (including Santa Maria delle Grazie, decorated with Leonardo da Vinci paintings, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) Milan attracts 2 million annual visitors.^[11] It hosts numerous cultural institutions and universities, including Bocconi University, which ranks 5th among European Business Schools.^[12][13] The city is also well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair, the largest of its kind in the world,^[14] and will host the 2015 Universal Exposition. The city is also home to two renowned football teams, A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano.

History[link]

Etymology[link]

The English name Milan derives from the Lombard and the Italian form is Milano, which stems from the Latin Mediolanum, the ancient city founded by the Celtic tribe of the Insubres, who were in possession of the city until the Roman conquest in the third century BC. The Mediolanum name is borne by a number of Gallo-Roman sites in France, such as Mediolanum Santonum (Saintes) and Mediolanum Aulercorum (Évreux) and appears to contain the Celtic element -lan, signifying an enclosure or demarcated territory (source of the Welsh word 'llan', meaning a sanctuary or church). Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a particular Celtic tribe.^{[citation needed][15]}

The origin of the name and of a boar (the scrofa semilanuta) 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",^[16] 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;^[17] therefore "The city's symbol is a wool-bearing boar, an animal of double form, here with sharp bristles, there with sleek wool."^[18] Alciato credits Ambrose for his account.^[19]

Celtic and Roman times[link]

Around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered this settlement, which was then renamed 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 ruled the Western one. Immediately Maximian built several gigantic monuments, like a large circus 470 × 85 m (1,540 ft × 279 ft), the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other services and buildings.

With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians.^[20] The city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, so the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city. In 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan in the course of the so-called Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, the Longobards (from which the name of the Italian region Lombardy derives), a Teutonic tribe conquered Milan, overpowering the small Byzantine army left for its defence. Some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule.^[21] Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne, in an utterly novel decision, took the title "King of the Lombards" as well (before then the Germanic kingdoms had frequently conquered each other, but none had adopted the title of King of another people). The Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period. Subsequently Milan become part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Middle Ages[link]

Milan as it appeared in 1493, woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle.

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 1208 Rambertino Buvalelli served a term as podestà of the city, in 1242 Luca Grimaldi, and in 1282 Luchetto Gattilusio. The position could be fraught with personal dangers in the violent political life of the medieval commune: in 1252 Milanese heretics assassinated the Church's Inquisitor, later known as Saint Peter Martyr, at a ford in the nearby contado; the killers bribed their way to freedom, and in the ensuing riot the podestà was very nearly lynched. In 1256 the archbishop and leading nobles were expelled from the city. In 1259 Martino della Torre was elected Capitano del Popolo by members of the guilds; he took the city by force, expelled his enemies, and ruled by dictatorial powers, paving streets, digging canals, successfully taxing the countryside. His policy, however, brought the Milanese treasury to collapse; the use of often reckless mercenary units further angered the population, granting an increasing support for the Della Torre's traditional enemies, the Visconti. It is worthy of note that the most important industries throughout the period were major armaments and wool production, a whole catalogue of activities and trades is given in Bonvesin della Riva's "de Magnalibus Urbis Mediolani".

The Biscione: the coat of arms of the House of Visconti, from the Archbishops' palace in Piazza Duomo.

On 22 July 1262 Ottone Visconti was created archbishop of Milan by Pope Urban IV, against the Della Torre candidate, Raimondo della Torre, Bishop of Como. The latter thus started to publicize allegations of the Visconti's closeness to the heretic Cathars and charged them of high treason: the Visconti, who accused the Della Torre of the same crimes, were then banned from Milan and their properties confiscated. The ensuing civil war caused more damage to Milan's population and economy, lasting for more than a decade. Ottone Visconti unsuccessfully led a group of exiles against the city in 1263, but after years of escalating violence on all sides, finally, after the victory in the Battle of Desio (1277), he won the city for his family. The Visconti succeeded in ousting the della Torre forever, ruling the city and its possession until the 15th century.

Much of the prior history of Milan was the tale of the struggle between two political factions—the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Most of the time the Guelphs were successful in the city of Milan. However, the Visconti family were able to seize power (signoria) in Milan, based on their "Ghibelline" friendship with the German Emperors.^[22] In 1395, one of these emperors, Wenceslas (1378–1400), raised the Milanese to the dignity of a duchy.^[23] Also in 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti became duke of Milan. The Ghibelline Visconti family was to retain power in Milan for a century and a half from the early 14th century until the middle of the 15th century.^[24]

In 1447 Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, died without a male heir; following the end of the Visconti line, the Ambrosian Republic was enacted. The Ambrosian Republic took its name from St. Ambrose, popular patron saint of the city of Milan.^[25] Both the Guelph and the Ghibelline factions worked together to bring about the Ambrosian Republic in Milan. However, the Republic collapsed when in 1450, Milan was conquered by Francesco Sforza, of the House of Sforza, which made Milan one of the leading cities of the Italian Renaissance.^[25][26]

Early modern[link]

The late 16th-century city encircled by the Spanish walls.

The French king Louis XII first laid claim to the duchy in 1492. At that time, Milan was defended by Swiss mercenaries. After the victory of Louis's successor Francis I over the Swiss at the Battle of Marignano, the duchy was promised to the French king Francis I. When the Habsburg Charles V defeated Francis I at the Battle of Pavia in 1525, northern Italy, including Milan, passed to the House of Habsburg.^[27]

In 1556, Charles V abdicated in favour of his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand I. 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. The Great Plague of Milan in 1629–31 killed an estimated 60,000 people out of a population of 130,000. This episode is considered one of the last outbreaks of the centuries-long pandemic of plague that began with the Black Death.^[28]

In 1700 the Spanish line of Habsburgs was extinguished with the death of Charles II. 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 Philippe of Anjou to the Spanish throne. In 1706, the French were defeated in Ramillies and 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.

Milanese patriots fight Austrian troops during the Five Days.

Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, and Milan was declared capital of the Cisalpine Republic. Later, he declared Milan capital of the Kingdom of Italy and was crowned in the Duomo. Once Napoleon's occupation ended, the Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy, and Milan, along with Veneto, to Austrian control in 1815.^[29] During this period, Milan became a centre of lyric opera. Here in the 1770s Mozart had premiered three operas at the Teatro Regio Ducal. Later La Scala became the reference theatre in the world, with its premières of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. Verdi himself is interred in the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, his present to Milan. In the 19th century other important theatres were La Cannobiana and the Teatro Carcano.

On 18 March 1848, the Milanese rebelled against Austrian rule, during the so-called "Five Days" (Italian: Le Cinque Giornate), and Field Marshal Radetzky was forced to withdraw from the city temporarily. However, after defeating Italian forces at Custoza on 24 July, 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.^[30] 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 had started under Austrian partronage (Venice-Milan; Milan-Monza) that made Milan the rail hub of northern Italy. Thereafter with the opening of the Gotthard (1881) and Simplon (1906) railway tunnels, Milan became the major South European rail focus for business and passenger movements e.g. the Simplon Orient Express. Rapid industrialization and market expansion put Milan at the centre of Italy's leading industrial region, though in the 1890s Milan was shaken by the Bava-Beccaris massacre, a riot related to a high inflation rate. 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.^[15]

Late modern and contemporary[link]

View of Piazza del Duomo, Milan in the early 20th century.

In 1918, the Great War ended with Italy among the winning powers, but the heavy toll of the conflict manifested itself in terms of food shortage, high unemployment and hyperinflation that quickly led to social unrest. Exploiting these favorable circumstances, Benito Mussolini organized his Fascist Blackshirts, that rallied for the first time in Piazza San Sepolcro, a small square near Milan Cathedral. Subsequently, Mussolini led his March on Rome starting from Milan. During the Second World War Milan suffered severe damage from British and American bombings. When Italy quit the war in 1943, German forces occupied most of Northern Italy until 1945. As a result, antifascist resistance groups formed and started guerilla operations against Nazi and Italian Social Republic's troops. As the war came to an end, the American 1st Armored Division advanced on Milan as part of the Po Valley Campaign. But before they arrived, members of the Italian resistance movement took control of the city and executed Mussolini along with several members of his collaborationist government. On 29 April 1945, the corpses of Mussolini, his mistress Clara Petacci and other Fascist hierarcs were infamously hanged in Piazzale Loreto, where a year before fifteen antifascists had been executed.

The Pirelli Tower, symbol of the Italian economic miracle of 1950s-1960s.

After the war, the city was the site of a refugee camp for Jews fleeing from Austria. During the economic miracle of the 1950s and 1960s, a large wave of internal migration, especially peasants from rural areas of Southern Italy, moved to the city. During this period, Milan saw a quick reconstruction of most of its destroyed houses and factories, with the building of several innovative and modernist skyscrapers, such as the Torre Velasca and the Pirelli Tower. The economic boom was however overshadowed in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the so called Years of Lead, when Milan witnessed an unprecedented wave of steet violence, labour strikes and political terrorism. The apex of this period of turmoil occurred on 12 December 1969, when a bomb exploded at the National Agrarian Bank in Piazza Fontana, killing seventeen people and injuring eighty-eight.

In the 1980s, as several fashion firms based in the city became internationally successful (such as Armani, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana), Milan started to be recognized as one of the world's fashion capitals. The traditionally affordable and practical, yet stylish and chic attire produced by the city's stylists made it a serious global competitor, threatening Paris' century-long status as the world capital of haute couture. The city saw also a rise in international tourism, notably from America and Japan. This period of prosperity and the new international image of the city led many journalists to call the metropolis "Milano da bere", literally "Milan to drink".^[31] However, in the 1990s, Milan was badly affected by Tangentopoli, a major political scandal centered on public works bribes, in which several local and national politicians and businessmen were tried for alleged corruption. The city was also affected by a severe financial crisis and a steady decline in textiles, automobile and steel production, that led to a deep reorganization of its economy.

In the early 21st century, Milan underwent a series of massive redevelopments, with the moving of its exhibition center to a much larger site in the satellite town of Rho,^[32] and the construction of a new financial district in Porta Nuova. The 2008 announcement of the city hosting the Expo 2015^[33] has brightened prospects for the city's future, with several new plans of regeneration and the planned construction of numerous avant-garde structures. Despite the decline in Milan's manufacturing production,^[34] the city has found alternative and successful sources of revenue, including publishing, finance, banking, food processing, information technology, logistics, transport and tourism.^[34] In addition, Milan's population seems to have stabilized in recent years, with signs of recovery as it grew by five percent since 2001.^[35]

Municipal administration[link]

City government[link]

Palazzo Marino, Milan City Hall.

Giuliano Pisapia, mayor since 2011.

The city's nine boroughs.

In its postwar political history, Milan has been governed for more than thirty years by a center-left coalition including the Italian Socialist Party and the Christian Democrats, while in the 1980s the political balance shifted further left with coalitions between the Socialists, the Communists and the newborn Greens. However, after a sensational uncovering of massive bribes scandals in the early 1990s, the city had become a stronghold of the conservative coalition led by Milanese media-magnate Silvio Berlusconi combined with the secessionist far-right movement Northern League, a trend that seems to have been reversed only by the 2011 municipal elections, in which a progressive candidate successfully contested the mayoral seat, thus ending almost 20 years of conservative administrations.

The legislative body of the municipality (commune) is the City Council (Consiglio Comunale), which is composed by 48 members elected every five years. Milan's executive body is the City Committee (Giunta Comunale), composed by 16 assessors and presieded over by the mayor. The current mayor of Milan is Giuliano Pisapia, expression of a progressive alliance composed by the Democratic Party of Italy, Left Ecology Freedom, the Greens and the Communist Refoundation Party.

Boroughs[link]

The municipality of Milan is further subdivided into nine devolution boroughs (zone), down from the former twenty boroughs before the 1999 administrative reform. The boroughs are governed by a president and a borough council, elected contextually to the city mayor. Since the 2011 mayoral elections, all the administrative boroughs are governed by center-left representatives.^[36] Boroughs have the power to advise the mayor with nonbinding opinions on a large spectrum of topics (environment, construction, public health, local markets); in addition they are supplied with an autonomous founding in order to finance local activities.

Geography[link]

Night satellite picture of Milan.

Topography[link]

Milan is located in the north-western section of the great Po Valley, between the rivers Ticino and Adda, among the river Po and the first reliefs of the Alps. The municipal territory is entirely flat, the highest point being at 122 m (400.26 ft) above sea level. The administrative commune covers, behind its borders, a total surface area of about 181 km² (70 sq mi). However, the continuously built-up area trespass by far the city limits and forms a vast urban agglomeration with the large residential suburs of Assago, Opera, San Donato Milanese, San Giuliano Milanese, Cologno Monzese and Segrate to the south and east, the industrial towns of Sesto San Giovanni, Cinisello Balsamo, Paderno Dugnano, Rho, Legnano and Busto Arsizio to the north and west, up to including Monza and many other lesser settlements. Please note the photo orientation is offset by 90 degrees to the W/right. So the W in the photo is actually N.

Climate[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

Milan has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) without any influence from the seaside. The Climatic Classification is "zone E, 2259 GR/G"– similar to much of Northern Italy's inland plains, where sultry summers and very cold, wet winters prevail.^{[37][not in citation given]} The minimum temperature record is -17.6 and the highest is 39.

Average temperatures in city center are 3 °C (37 °F) in January with −2 °C (28 °F) for the minimum and 25 °C (77 °F) in July with average maximum of 30 °C (86 °F). During winter, accumulating snowfall can occur and is not as rare as in the southern parts of Italy. The historic average of Milan's area is of 21 centimetres (8 in) during the period between 1950 and 2007, with a record of 70 centimetres (28 in) during the snowfall of January 1985. Humidity is quite high during the whole year and annual precipitation averages about 1,000 millimetres (39 in).^{[37][38][not in citation given][39]} The ventilation is poor throughout the year and this increases the rate of pollution.

In the stereotypical image, the city is often shrouded in the heavy fog characteristic of cold seasons in the Po Basin, although the removal of rice paddies from the southern neighborhoods, the urban heat island effect and the reduction of pollution from factories have reduced this phenomenon in recent years, at least in the city centre, although pollution is still very high. Wind is generally absent. In spring, though, gale-force windstorms can happen, generated either by Tramontana blowing from the Alps or by Bora-like winds from northeast.

Cityscape[link]

A view of the Piazza del Duomo, the city's main and most central square, surrounded by several palaces and important buildings, such as Milan Cathedral, the Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery and the Royal Palace of Milan.

The opposite side of Piazza del Duomo, with late-Art Deco Palazzo dell'Arengario.

Architecture[link]

The Gothic façade of the Duomo, Milan Cathedral.

There are few remains of the ancient Roman colony that later became a capital of the Western Roman Empire. During the second half of the 4th century, Saint Ambrose, as bishop of Milan, had a strong influence on the layout of the city, redesigning the centre (although the cathedral and baptistery built at this time are now lost) and building the great basilicas at the city gates: Sant'Ambrogio, San Nazaro in Brolo, San Simpliciano and Sant'Eustorgio, which still stand, refurbished over the centuries, as some of the finest and most important churches in Milan. The largest and most important example of Gothic architecture in Italy, the Duomo, Milan's Cathedral, is the fourth largest cathedral in the world^[41] after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Cathedral of Seville and a new cathedral in the Ivory Coast.^[41] Built between 1386 and 1577, it hosts the world's largest collection of marble statues with the widely visible golden Madonna statue on top of the spire, nicknamed by the people of Milan as Madunina (the little Madonna), that became one of the symbols of the city.

The Castello Sforzesco, ancient residence of the House of Sforza.

In the second half of the fifteenth century, when the Sforza ruled the city, the old Visconti fortress was enlarged and embellished to became the Castello Sforzesco: the seat of an elegant Renaissance court surrounded by a walled hunting park stocked with game captured around the Seprio and Lake Como. Notable architects involved in the project included the Florentine Filarete, who was commissioned to build the high central entrance tower, and the military specialist Bartolomeo Gadio.^[42] The political alliance between Francesco Sforza and the Florence of Cosimo de' Medici bore architectural fruit, as Milanese building came under the influence of Brunelleschian models of Renaissance architecture. The first notable buildings to show this Tuscan influence were a palazzo built to house the Medici Bank (of which only the main entrance survives) and the centrally planned Portinari Chapel, attached to Sant’Eustorgio and built for the first manager of the bank's Milan branch. Filarete, while in Milan, was responsible for the great public hospital known as the Ospedale Maggiore, and also for an influential Treatise on Architecture, which included a plan for a star-shaped ideal city called Sforzinda in honour of Francesco Sforza and passionately argued for the centrally planned form.

Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Leonardo da Vinci, who was in Milan from around 1482 until the fall of the city to the French in 1499, was commissioned in 1487 to design a tiburio, or crossing tower for the cathedral, although he was not chosen to build it.^[43][44] However, the enthusiasm he shared with Filarete for the centrally-planned building gave rise in this period to numerous architectural drawings [pictured], which were influential in the work of Donato Bramante and others. Bramante's work in the city, which included Santa Maria presso San Satiro (a reconstruction of a small 9th-century church), the beautiful luminous tribune of Santa Maria delle Grazie and three cloisters for Sant'Ambrogio, drew also on his studies of the Early Christian architecture of Milan such as the Basilica of San Lorenzo.^[45]

The Counter-Reformation was also the period of Spanish domination and was marked by two powerful figures: Saint Charles Borromeo and his cousin, Cardinal Federico Borromeo. Not only did they impose themselves as moral guides to the people of Milan, but they also gave a great impulse to culture, with the creation of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, in a building designed by Francesco Maria Ricchino, and the nearby Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. Many notable churches and Baroque mansions were built in the city during this period by the architects, Pellegrino Tibaldi, Galeazzo Alessi and Ricchino himself.^[46]

The Chiaravalle Abbey, founded in 1135.

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria was responsible for the significant renovations carried out in Milan during the 18th century. She instigated profound social and civil reforms, as well as the construction of many of the buildings that still today constitute the pride of the city, like the Teatro alla Scala, inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and today one of the world's most famous opera houses. The annexed Museo Teatrale alla Scala contains a collection of paintings, drafts, statues, costumes, and other documents regarding opera and La Scala's history. La Scala also hosts the Ballet School of the Teatro alla Scala. The Austrian sovereign also promoted culture in Milan through projects such as converting the ancient Jesuit College, in the district of Brera, into a scientific and cultural centre with a Library, an astronomic observatory and the botanical gardens, in which the Art Gallery and the Academy of Fine Arts are today placed side by side. Milan was also widely affected by the Neoclassical movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, transforming its architectural style.

The Arch of Peace, erected in 1807 by Napoleon in Neoclassical style.

French Imperial rule of the city in the early 19th century produced several fine Neoclassical structures and mansions, Many of these are located in the Corso Venezia district,^[47] including Villa Reale or Villa del Belgiojoso, built by Leopoldo Pollak in 1790.^[48] It housed the Bonaparte family, mainly Josephine Bonaparte, but also several others key political figures of 1800, such as Count Joseph Radetzky von Radetz and Eugène de Beauharnais.^[48] It is often regarded as one of the best types of Neoclassical architecture in Milan and Lombardy, surrounded by an English landscape garden. Today, it hosts a Gallery Contemporary Art in a fine context of classical columns, vast halls, marble statues and crystal chandeliers.^[48]

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II: interior view.

Addictional, major examples of Neoclassical architecture in the city includes Palazzo Belgiojoso, former grand Napoleonic residence, and Palazzo Tarsis, built by Luigi Clerichetti for Count Paolo Tarsis in 1834, famous for its ornate façade.^[47] The massive Arch of Peace,^[47] also known as Porta Sempione (Sempione Gate), is situated in Piazza Sempione right at the end of the omonimous park. It is often compared to a miniature version of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The works began in 1806 by order of Napoleone Bonaparte, under superivison of architect Luigi Cagnola. Just like with the Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's 1815 defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, halted the construction of the monumental arch, but Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria ordered it to be completed as a celebration of the Vienna Congress and the peace treaties of 1815. It was completed by Francesco Peverelli on 10 September 1838.^[48] Another noted Neoclassical building in the city is the Palazzo del Governo, constructed in 1817 by Piero Gilardoni.^[48]

The gates of Cimitero Monumentale.

In the second half of the 19th century, Milan quicklt became the main industrial center in Italy, drewing inspiration from the great European capitals that were hubs of the technological innovations of the second industrial revolution and, consequently, of the deep social change that had been put in motion. The great Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a covered passage that connects Piazza del Duomo, Milan to the square opposite of La Scala opera house, was built by architect Giuseppe Mengoni between 1865 and 1877 to celebrate Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of reunited Italy. The galleria is covered by an arching glass and cast iron roof, a popular design for 19th-century arcades, such as the Burlington Arcade in London, which was the prototype for larger glazed shopping arcades, beginning with the Saint-Hubert Gallery in Brussels and the Passazh in St Petersburg. Another late 19th century eclectic monument in the city is Cimitero Monumentale, built in a Neo-Romanesque style by several architects between 1863 and 1866.

Milano Centrale railway station.

The iconic Velasca Tower, built in 1958.

The tumultuous period of early 20th century brought several, radical innovations in Milanese architecture. Art Nouveau, also known as Liberty in Italy, started to develop in the city during the years before the Great War;^[49] alongside other major Italian cities, most notably Palermo and Turin, this partcoular style became highly popular, producing several notable buildings in the city,^[49] developing its own, individual style known as "Liberty Milanese" (Milanese Art Nouveau), which, in many aspects, shares many traits with Vienna Secession.^[50] Possibly one of the most notable Art Nouveau edfices in Milan is Palazzo Castiglioni in Corso Venezia, built by architect Giuseppe Sommaruga between 1901 and 1904.^[49] Other remarkable examples include Hotel Corso^[49] and Berri-Meregalli house, the latter built in a traditional Milanese Art Nouveau style combined with elements of neo-Romanesque and Gothic revial architecture, regarded as one of the last such types of architecture in the city.^[51] In 1906, with the Universal Exposition, the city was able to exhibit its Art Nouveau works, that was thus considered the official style of the exposition.^[52] Nonetheless, as the century progressed, other styles started to be explored, including neo-Romanesque, eclectic and Gothic revival architecture, so Art Nouveau started falling out of fashion by c. 1913, when the official season was closed by Sommaruga.^[52] A new, more eclectic form of architecture can be seen in buildings such as Castello Cova, built the 1910s in a distinctly neo-medieval style, evoking the architectural trends of the past.^[53] A late Example of Art Deco, which blended such styles with Fascist architecture, is the massive Milano Centrale railway station by Ulisse Stacchini, inaugurated in 1931.

The post–World War II period saw rapid reconstruction and fast economic growth, accompanied by a nearly twofold increase in population. A strong demand for new residential and commercial areas drove to extreme urban expansion and architectural renewal, that has produced some of the major milestones in the city's architectural history, including Gio Ponti's Pirelli Tower (1956–60), Velasca Tower (1956–58), and the creation of brand new residential satellite towns, as well as huge amounts of low quality public housings. In recent years, deindustrialization, urban decay and gentrification led to a massive urban renewal of former industrial areas, that have been transformed into modern residential and financial districts, notably Porta Nuova and FieraMilano in the suburb of Rho. The old Fiera area is being completely rebuild thanks to the project Citylife and will feature, amongst residences museums and a large park, three skyscraper designed by famous international architects, from whom they will take the names: Isozaki Tower, Hadid Tower and Libeskind Tower. They will all have remarkable shapes: the Hadid Tower^[54] is twisted, the Libeskind Tower^[55] and the Isozaki Tower,^[56] although being perfectly straight, will reach 200m becoming the tallest building in Italy.