Zone 1 of Milan

Coordinates: 45°28′17″N 9°11′06″E / 45.471282°N 9.184999°E / 45.471282; 9.184999
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Centro Storico (district of Milan)
)

Zone 1 of Milan
Municipality 1
UTC+2 (CEST
)

The Zone 1 of Milan, since 2016 officially Municipality 1 of Milan, (in Italian: Zona 1 di Milano, Municipio 1 di Milano) is one of the 9

administrative divisions of Milan, Italy.[1]

It was officially created as an administrative subdivision during the 1980s. On 14 April 2016, to promote a reform on the municipal administrative decentralization, the City Council of Milan established the new Municipality 1, a new administrative body responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, roads, parks, libraries and local commerce.[2]

The zone includes the historical center of the city. It is the least populated of the city's zones and one of the smallest by area, a significant part of which is occupied by

Sforza Castle and Sempione Park
. A large part of the zone is dedicated to museums and administrative buildings.

Subdivision

Sforza Castle

The zone includes the following districts:

  • fortune tellers
    ' booths.
  • movida", with a number of bars, pubs, restaurants, and discos; since the RAI public television company, as well as some major radio stations, have their headquarters in the area, frequent appearances of celebrities contribute to the popularity of the Sempione's night life venues.[4]
  • LBGT venues in Milan, such as the "Lelephant" and the "Atomic Bar".[8]
  • Sarpi, which includes a large portion of the Milanese Chinatown, home of the oldest and largest Chinese community in Italy. Originally established during the 1920s by immigrants who used to operate small textile and leather workshops, today the district is filled with hairdressing salons, fashion boutiques, silk and leather stores, libraries, traveling agencies, medicine centres and massage parlours. The Chinese takeaways and restaurants in the area are mostly specialised in Zhejiang cuisine. Several Italian-Chinese companies are also headquartered in the neighborhood, including the editorial desk of the newspaper Europe China Daily. Via Paolo Sarpi is the main street and is largely a pedestrian area.
  • Porta Tenaglia;
  • Ticinese;
  • Duomo;
  • Magenta-San Vittore;
  • Quadronno;
  • Pagano;

Sestieri

As many cities in Italy, the historic centre of Milan is also subdivided into many historical sestieri, medieval subdivisions themselves subdivided into different contrade.

Sestiere Coat of arms Contrade

Nobles Contrade:
Farine  • Cicogna  • Sant'Ambrogio

Rosa  • Cordusio  • Bossi

Contrada capitana:
Aquila (seat of Palazzo della Ragione, Milan's medieval town hall)

1 Porta Orientale 1. Contrada del Verzaro
2. Nobile Contrada delle Farine
3. Contrada dell'Agnello (Lamb)
4. Contrada della Cerva (Doe)
5. Contrada di Bagutta
2 Porta Romana 6. Contrada del Falcone (Falcon)
7. Nobile Contrada della Cicogna (Stork)
8. Contrada del Fieno (Hay)
9. Contrada del Brolo
10. Contrada delle Capre (Goats)
3 Porta Ticinese 11. Contrada della Lupa (She-wolf)
12. Nobile Contrada di Sant'Ambrogio
13. Contrada delle Cornacchie (Crows)
14. Contrada del Torchio
15. Contrada della Vetra
4 Porta Vercellina 16. Contrada della Piscina
17. Nobile Contrada della Rosa (Rose)
18. Contrada dei Morigi
19. Contrada della Porta
20. Contrada del Nirone
5 Porta Comasina 21. Nobile Contrada del Cordusio
22. Contrada del Rovello
23. Contrada dell'Orso (Bear)
24. Contrada del Campo (Field)
25. Contrada dei Fiori (Flowers)
6 Porta Nuova 26. Contrada dell'Aquila (Eagle)
27. Nobile Contrada dei Bossi
28. Contrada della Mazza
29. Contrada degli Andegari
30. Contrada della Spiga (Ear)

Fashion district

Via Verri in the fashion district.

fashion houses
.

The sides of the square, located to the south of the arches of

Via Montenapoleone, Via Manzoni, Via della Spiga and Corso Venezia
.

Streets inside this area include

Via Verri
.

Government

Palazzo dell'Arengario complex in Piazza del Duomo. The western structure (right) is the seat of the Municipal Council of Zone 1, while the eastern (left) houses Museo del Novecento

The area has its own local authority called Consiglio di Municipio (Municipal Council), composed by a president and 30 members directly elected by citizens every five years. The council is responsible for most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, roads, parks, libraries and local commerce in the area,[2] and manages funds (if any) provided by the city government for specific purposes, such as those intended to guarantee the right to education for poorer families.

The current president is Mattia Abdu (PD). He was elected in the 2021 Milan municipal election together with the 30-member Municipal Council, whose composition is shown below:

Alliance or
political party 		Members Composition
2021–2026
Centre-left
(PD-EV) 		21
21 / 30
Centre-right
(FI-L-FdI) 		9
9 / 30

Here is a full lists of the directly elected Presidents of Municipio since 2011:

President Term of office Party
Fabio Luigi Arrigoni 16 May 2011 8 October 2021 PD
Mattia Abdu 8 October 2021 Incumbent PD

Gates

In the past the city Milan had three different systems of defending walls. The oldest one,

Frederick I Barbarossa
. Finally, the latest wall system was built by the Spanish rulers in the 16th century. While very little remains of these walls, their structure is clearly reflected in the urbanistic layout of the city with several main gates still marking the entrance in the historical centre of the city. In particular, modern Milan has two roughly circular rings of streets, namely the "Cerchia dei Navigli" and the "Cerchia dei Bastioni", which essentially correspond to the Medieval and Spanish walls, respectively.

Main gates which still today mark the entrance to Zone 1 are:

  • Napoleonic rule, the Arch of Peace was built by architect Luigi Cagnola. This new gate marked the place where the new Strada del Sempione entered Milan. This road, which is still in use today, connects Milan to Paris through the Simplon Pass crossing the Alps
    .
  • Porta Venezia, originally known as Porta Orientale ("Eastern Gate"). Already part of the Roman walls, it was renewed in neoclassic style during the first half of the 19th century.
  • Porta Ticinese.
  • Porta Nuova
    .
  • Porta Romana.
  • Arch of Peace in Porta Sempione
    Arch of Peace in Porta Sempione
  • Porta Venezia
    Porta Venezia
  • Porta Ticinese
    Porta Ticinese
  • Porta Nuova
    Porta Nuova

Squares

The zone is characterized by the presence of many squares (Italian: piazze), among which the most famous are:

Education

Thanks to its central position, the zone houses some prominent educational institutions. In this area are located the main buildings of many higher education institutions:

  • University of Milan, founded in 1924, is located not so far from the Piazza del Duomo. At the end of the Second World War, the old Ospedale dei Poveri (Hospital for the Poor) building, known as "la Cà Granda" (the Big House), was assigned to the University. The building, one of the first Italian examples of civil architecture – commissioned in the 15th century by the Sforza family, the dukes of Milan – was seriously damaged by the bombings of 1943. In 1958, after a complex series of reconstruction and renovation works, it became home to the University Rector's Office, the administrative offices and the schools of Law and Humanities.
  • Jesuit
    college.
  • Conservatory of Milan, college music established in 1807 by royal decree. Today it is the largest institute of musical education in Italy.[9]
  • University of Milan headquarter
    University of Milan headquarter
  • Brera Academy
    Brera Academy
  • Brera Academy internal courtyard
    Brera Academy internal courtyard
  • Conservatory main entrance
    Conservatory main entrance

Museums

The zone houses all the most important museums of the city. The main are:

  • Royal Palace
    Royal Palace
  • Triennale
    Triennale
  • Natural History Museum
    Natural History Museum
  • Museo del Novecento
    Museo del Novecento

Transport

Bike sharing in Piazza Duomo

Stations of Milan Metro in Zone 1:

  • Cadorna, Cairoli, Cordusio, Duomo, Palestro, Porta Venezia, San Babila;
  • Cadorna, Lanza, Moscova, Sant’Ambrogio;
  • Crocetta, Duomo, Missori, Montenapoleone, Porta Romana, Turati.
  • San Babila, Tricolore.

Future stations of Milan Metro will include:

  • De Amicis, Sant'Ambrogio, Santa Sofia, Sforza-Policlinico, Vetra.

Suburban railway stations
in the Zone 1:

Zone 1 is also interested by

sustainable mobility
and public transport, and to decrease the existing levels of smog that have become unsustainable from the point of view of public health. Area C was definitively approved as a permanent program on 27 March 2013.[12]

Due to this traffic restrictions, the Zone is predominantly characterized by many pedestrian zones and easily accessible by bike.

Other notable places

Sempione Park

Maps

  • Map of Zona 1
    Map of Zona 1
  • Area C traffic restricted zone (ZTL)
    Area C traffic restricted zone (ZTL)

References

  1. ^ (in Italian) The 9 city councils of Milan (municipal website)
  2. ^ a b Municipality of Milan – Municipalities
  3. ^ Fiori Chiari Archived 1 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine (one of the best known streets in Brera)
  4. ^ Il camper del Corriere al Sempione
  5. ^ Milan Guide: Porta Venezia Archived 8 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
  6. ^ a b Movida a Porta Venezia (in Italian)
  7. ^ a b Le mille e una notte vivono a Porta Venezia (in Italian)
  8. ^ Verso un nuovo quartiere gay Archived 15 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Official website" (in Italian). Conservatorio "Giuseppe Verdi" di Milano. Retrieved 13 January 2016. (In the Conservatorio drop down menu)
  10. ^ "Area C è partita: calate del 40% le auto in centro dopo l'entrata in vigore del pedaggio" [Area C takes off: auto traffic decreased 40% in the center after the toll goes into force]. Corriere della Sera Milano (in Italian). 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  11. ^ Martino, Angelo. "Milano: from pollution charge to congestion charge" (PDF). Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  12. ^ "Area C. Istituita la congestion charge definitiva". Comune di Milano. Retrieved 13 May 2013.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Centro Storico di Milano.

Media related to Municipio 1 (Milan) at Wikimedia Commons

45°28′17″N 9°11′06″E / 45.471282°N 9.184999°E / 45.471282; 9.184999

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