Milan

Milan is the second largest city in Italy, the financial and economical capital of the country. The city center is beautiful, with many architectural styles that are not typical for the rest of Italy. Milan's most famous landmark is the Duomo Cathedral, which is situated in the downtown, near the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Almost all sights of Milan are located in one place, so you can move on foot. The roof of the cathedral is open for visitors from 9 am, and it's much more interesting than the visit to cathedral itself. 135 spiers and 3,400 statues are located on the roof!

Near the cathedral is the entrance to the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Actually, prior to traveling in Europe, I thought that a gallery was a museum. It turned out that it was a shopping complex. If you ignore the numerous Japanese shoppers and brand signs, you can see some interesting things. For example, the world's first seven-star hotel. By the way, the famous Burj Al Arab in Dubai has not yet been certified as a seven-star hotel. 


Black McDonald's, that was obliged to make such colors in the style of other boutiques.


And a famous bull. The tradition tells that if you put your right heel on the bull's genitals and turn yourself three times, this will bring good luck. This practice causes damage to the mosaic.


On the other side of the gallery there's a famous La Scala theater, though from outside it doesn't look impressive. Here's also a statue of Leonardo da Vinci.


Further, through the small streets you need to get to the beautiful Via Dante and pass it to the Sforza Castle. This is a perfectly preserved defensive structure of the 14th century. The castle took part in many battles, was destroyed by Napoleon and rebuilt in the second half of the 20th century.




Behind the castle is a picturesque Sempione Park, where we settled for a picnic on a lawn.


Few steps from the castle and the park, on the square near the Cadorna FNM - Triennale metro station, you can see the unusual sculpture "Needle, Thread and Knot". It was installed in 2000 by architects Oldenburg and van Bruggen, known for their large-scale installations around the world.




There are several unusual places in Milan, which are rarely visited by tourists. The 50 km long Grand Canal is located near the Porta Genova FS metro station. It was built in 1152-1209 for protection and trade exchange between Milan and the Swiss lake Maggiore. In the XIII century, the city had a huge network of canals and took drinking water from them as well as used them to deliver goods and to wash clothes.


Between the canal and the cathedral, on the Corso di Porta Ticinese Street there are the best preserved remains of the Roman Empire - Columns of San Lorenzo.


Milan is the fashion capital of the world. Local ladies wear boots even during the 30-degree heat.


Milan stores one of the greatest work of art, "The Last Supper" - a mural by Leonardo da Vinci. Even those who are not interested in art, know it from the "The Da Vinci Code" movie. The biggest discovery for us was the size of the mural - 460 to 880 centimeters! By the middle of the last century, the colors faded and it was decided to restore the masterpiece. The restoration works continued for 21 years and ended in 1999. Since then, the mural is open for visits. The visit lasts only 15 minutes but this time is enough. We recommend buying the tickets in advance at this website. You need to come here and don't forget to take an audioguide.


More photos of Milan












Useful links:
Map of Milan metro
San Siro Stadium
Autodrom in Monza
Duomo Cathedral
Museum of Science and Technology of Leonardo da Vinci
La Scala Theatre
Sforza Castle
Milan Restaurants

Getting there: It's better to go by train from the Malpensa airport to the city (11 euros one way, 15 euros return). This train goes right to the downtown to the Cadorna station. Express buses cost 10 euros (16 euros return) and in 50 minutes take you to the central train station (timetable).

Some lowcosts, for example, Wizzair, fly to the nearest Bergamo airport. A shuttle bus to Milan will cost no more than 10 euros. The buses run frequently, and you can buy tickets from the machine at the bus stop near the exit area.

If you are traveling by car to the downtown (map), you should purchase an "ecopass" for 5 euros per day (in the subway, from tobacconist or at newsstands). Then you need to remove the protective strip and find a PIN, which should be activated (for details, see this web page).