HISTORY: The area of today's Milan was inhabited around 6th century BC by a Celtic tribe, Insubri, that was conquered in 222 BC by the Romans. In 402 AD, the city was besieged by the Goths and, in 452, it was devastated by Attila, King of the Huns. In 538, during the Gothic War, the city was destroyed again by the Goths. In 569, the city was conquered by the Lombards and, in 774, Milan surrendered to the Franks of Charlemagne.
In 1162, Frederick I Barbarossa, the Emperor of Germany, destroyed Milan in just a few days, and 20 years later, in 1183, the city became a duchy. In 1447, the Ambrosian Republic was established, which collapsed 3 years later, in 1450, when Milan was conquered by Francesco I of the House of Sforza.
Louis XII, King of France between 1498 and 1515, claimed the Duchy of Milan in 1500. After the Spanish Emperor Charles V defeated the successor of Louis XII, François I, at the Battle of Pavia, in 1525, the northern Italy, including Milan, passed to the Spanish line of Habsburgs. Starting with 1713, Milan passed under Austrian rule. In 1859, the city and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia, which in 1861 was renamed Kingdom of Italy.
GEOGRAPHY: Today, Milan is the second-most populous city in Italy, after Rome, and the capital of the Italian region Lombardy. The city is located 151 kilometers north of Genoa, 218 kilometers northwest of Bologna, 272 kilometers west of Venice, 315 kilometers northwest of Florence, 600 kilometers northwest of Rome and over 800 kilometers north of Naples.
TRANSPORT: Milan has three airports. The most important is Milano-Malpensa Airport, located about 45 kilometers away. The second is Orio al Serio Airport, known also as Il Caravaggio International Airport, located about 50 kilometers away from Milan. The third is the Milano-Linate Airport, the closest to the city, located about 7 kilometers away. To get to Milan from one of these airports, you can take one of the many buses reaching the city. A bus ticket is about 5€.
By train, a trip from Genoa takes between one hour and a half and two hours, and the cheapest ticket is 13.45€. From Bologna, the ticket is 16.80€ and the trip takes about 2 hours. From Venice, the trip takes between two and three and a half hours and the cheapest ticket is 20.70€.
In Milan, you can travel by metro, by tram or by bus, all operated by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi S.p.A.. A single ticket costs 1.5€ and a 24-hour ticket is 4.5€.
LANDMARKS: Among the tourist attractions of the city, the famous Cathedral of Milan, also known as the Duomo, is the star. The massive Gothic church, along with the square in front and the nearby Vittorio Emanuele Gallery, the Royal Palace and the Museo del Novecento, are the starting point for discovering the city. Worth mentioning are also the medieval Castle Sforzesco, the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, La Scala Theatre, one of the most renowned opera houses in the world, and Arco della Pace, one of the finest neoclassical triumphal arches in Europe.
MORE INFO: Touristic Portal | Malpensa Airport | Orio al Serio Airport | Linate Airport | Car Hire | Train Timetables & Fares | Metro & Bus Timetables & Fares | Hotels in Milan
Arco della Pace is a triumphal arch in Milan, a neoclassical monument located between the beginning of Corso Sempione and the northern edge of the Sempione Park. The arch, inaugurated on 10 September 1838 during a ceremony attended by the newly crowne Read more [...]
Castello Sforzesco, one of the largest castles in Europe, was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza. Located outside the historical center of Milan, the castle was one of the main military citadels of Europe between the 16th and 17th centuries Read more [...]
The Cathedral of the Nativity of Saint Mary, better known as Duomo di Milano, is the largest church in Italy and the fourth largest in the world. The Cathedral, which took almost six hundred years to complete, is the most important tourist attraction Read more [...]
The Streets, the English grime group led by the vocalist Mike Skinner, will play on Sunday, 24 February 2019, at the Fabrique, in Milan. The Streets is an alternative hip hop music project from Birming Read more [...]
Milano Summer Festival is a music festival taking place every year, usually in June and July, in Milano. The festival brings to Milan some of the best-known artists of different music genres, spanning Read more [...]
The American heavy metal band Metallica will perform on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Milan, at the Ippodromo Snai – San Siro, as part of their WorldWired Tour 2019. Metallica was formed in 1981 in Read more [...]
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