Milan, Italy Milano is the capital of the Milano province (Provincia) and the Lombardy (Lombardia) region. It is Italy's largest financial hub as well as its most wealthy manufacturing and commercial metropolis. Like that of many of the world's major cities, Milan's fate remains a historical puzzle. Even though the integrity of Italy was formed in Turin, rather than Milan, in 1870, significant elements are supporting the idea that Milan should have become the capital of a truly united Italy, and this is the conviction of many Milanese. Nonetheless, Milan is the most industrial and important city to have risen to prominence since the ancient territory of Italy became aware of itself as a nation.

Best Things to Do in Milan, Italy 

The Last Supper

When Leonardo was working on the masterpieces, a star-struck monk observed that he would occasionally come in the morning, marvel over the previous day's works, and then finish for the day. Your visit will be equally brief (15 minutes), but the luggage of a thousand shoddy duplicates will be rapidly shed once you stand in front of the dazzling work itself.

Duomo

A pink vision of Milan's grandiose Gothic cathedral, which took 600 years to build, shows the city's inventiveness and ambition. Its pearly white exterior, embellished with 135 spires and 3400 sculptures, rises like the mesh of a fairy-tale tiara, mesmerising visitors with its lavish intricacy. The inside is no less spectacular, with three massive stained-glass apse windows and saintly Carlo Borromeo placed in a rock-crystal coffin in the crypt.

Castello Sforzesco 

This renowned red-brick castle, originally a Visconti bastion, was later residence to the formidable Sforza dynasty, who governed Renaissance Milan. The multitalented da Vinci planned the castle's defences; Napoleon eventually emptied the moat and demolished the drawbridges. Today, it is home to seven specialised museums that exhibit fascinating relics of Milan's cultural and civic past, including Michelangelo's last work, the Rondanini Pietà, which is currently preserved in the frescoed hall of the palace's Ospedale Spagnolo (Spanish Hospital).

Museo del Novecento

Mussolini's Arengario, which overlooks Piazza del Duomo and has fantastic views of the temple, was where he would pester vast audiences during his prime. It now hosts Milan's museum of twentieth-century art. The impressive collection includes works by Boccioni, Campigli, Giorgio de Chirico, and Marinetti, and is built around a futuristic spiral ramp (a nod to the Guggenheim).

Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio

Milan's patron saint and one-time famous bishop, St. Ambrose, is resting in the vault of this red-brick church, which he erected in AD 379. The foundational Lombard Romanesque church is a suitable legacy, created and renovated with a deliberate simplicity that is wonderfully uplifting. The dark vaulted interior is illuminated by gleaming altar mosaics and a historical golden altarpiece (835) that previously served as covering for the saint's tomb.

Chiesa di San Maurizio

Milan's hidden crown treasure is his 16th-century regal chapel and former Benedictine abbey. Its somewhat solemn exterior hides a stunning interior, every inch filled with exquisite murals, the majority of which were done by Bernardino Luini, who collaborated with Leonardo da Vinci. Many of the paintings honour Ippolita Sforza, a literary genius from Milan, and other members of the influential Sforza and Bentivoglio clans who funded the chapel's embellishment.

Museo Poldi Pezzoli

Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli, at the age of 24, had inherited not just his family money, but also his mother's passion for art. He turned his home into a series of themed rooms focused on the great art periods after extended trips in which he took inspiration from European art movements (the Middle Ages, early Renaissance, baroque, etc). These Sala d'Artista, crammed with high-priced Renaissance artworks, are wonderful pieces of art in their very own right.

Arco Della Pace

Napoleon's 25-metre-high triumphal arch is on the northern border of Parco Sempione. It was designed in 1807 by Luigi Cagnola to resemble Paris' Arc de Triomphe and led to the creation of Corso Sempione, the principal route that connects Milan to Paris over the Simplon (Sempione) Pass. Ironically, due to Napoleon's loss in 1814, its neoclassical front was completed in 1838 with bas-reliefs showing images from the Battle of Leipzig (1813), rather than Napoleon's conquests.

Stazione Centrale

Nearly 100 million passengers pass through these massive gates and onto railway platforms beneath a dramatic cylindrical glass canopy each year. The station's unique architecture began in 1912 but was completed between 1925 and 1931, which is in keeping with Mussolini's nationalist fervour. The majority of the openly fascist insignia has been removed or concealed, but the deco-tinged neo-Babylonian edifice cannot conceal its aim.

Basilica di San Lorenzo

It's impossible not to be taken aback by this often-overlooked jumble of towers, lodges, apses, and domes. Despite appearances, it is just one basilica. Its centrepiece is a 4th-century early-Christian circular construction with three neighbouring octagonal chapels. What's left of a Romanesque atrium connects to the church's centre, and 16 Roman columns stand in front of it, now a hangout for kissing teenagers.

UniCredit Tower

The highest building in Italy (231m) is home to Unicredit, the country's largest bank, which periodically permits the public to visit its stunning top-deck watching gallery (check the website). The structure, designed by César Pelli, has received multiple honours, and its sinuous design and needle-like, 84m-tall spire have become a symbol of Milan's renewed ambitions to become Italy's most courageous contemporary metropolis.

Torre Velasca

The tower designed by Studio BBPR in 1958 is a well-known Milan landmark. At Castello Sforzesco and the Duomo's magnificent buttresses, the top-heavy tower complies tilts. It's Lombard to the core, a little dark, ever so sci-fi, and skillfully maximising the use of the existing footprint. Unfortunately, except for the foyer, it is currently as impenetrable as the mediaeval strongholds it is modelled after.

When is the best period of the year to visit Milan in Italy

Milan is best visited between April and May or September and October. These fall and spring months span the city's hectic peak tourism season while also avoiding the city's hot summer heat.