Milan

Milan Milano (Italian)
Comune di Milano
Skyline of Milan with Porta Nuova business district Porta Sempione Milan Cathedral Sforza Castle Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II La Scala Milano Centrale San Carlo al Corso
UTC+2 (CEST)
Area code	0039 02
Website	www.comune.milano.it

Milan (/mɪˈlæn/ mil-AN, US also /mɪˈlɑːn/ mil-AHN,^[5][6] Milanese: [miˈlãː] ^ⓘ; Italian: Milano [miˈlaːno] ^ⓘ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban population^[7] and the second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million,^[8] while its metropolitan city has 3.25 million residents.^[9] The urban area of Milan is the fourth-most-populous in the EU with 6.17 million inhabitants.^[10] According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area (also known as Greater Milan) is estimated between 7.5 million and 8.2 million, making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the largest in the EU.^[11][12] Milan is the economic capital of Italy, one of the economic capitals of Europe and a global financial centre.^[13][14]

Milan is recognized as a leading

Founded around 590 BC[25] under the name Medhelanon by a Celtic tribe belonging to the Insubres group and belonging to the Golasecca culture, it was conquered by the ancient Romans in 222 BC, who Latinized the name of the city into Mediolanum.^[25][26] The city's role as a major political centre dates back to the late antiquity, when it served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire.^[27] From the 12th century until the 16th century, Milan was one of the largest European cities and a major trade and commercial centre, as the capital of the Duchy of Milan, one of the greatest political, artistic and fashion forces in the Renaissance.^[28][29] Having become one of the main centres of the Italian Enlightenment during the early modern period, it then became one of the most active centres during the Restoration, until its entry into the unified Kingdom of Italy. From the 20th century onwards Milan became the industrial and financial capital of Italy.^[30][31] According to a 2024 study published in Nature and reported by The Economist, Milan was ranked as the most walkable city in the world.^[32][33]

Milan has been recognized as one of the world's four

Milan was founded with the Celtic name of Medhelanon,

The Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio (in the middle) and planus (plain).^[47] However, some scholars believe that lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory (source of the Welsh word llan, meaning "a sanctuary or church", ultimately cognate to English/German Land) in which Celtic communities used to build shrines.^[48]

Hence Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe. Indeed, about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France bore the name "Mediolanum", for example:

According to this theory, the foundation of Milan is credited to two Celtic peoples, the Bituriges and the Aedui, having as their emblems a ram and a boar;^[51] therefore "The city's symbol is a wool-bearing boar, an animal of double form, here with sharp bristles, there with sleek wool."^[52] Alciato credits Ambrose for his account.^[53]

Around 590 BC

Medhelanon, in particular, was developed around a sanctuary, which was the oldest area of the village.^[55] The sanctuary, which consisted of a wooded area in the shape of an ellipse with a central clearing, was aligned according to precise astronomical points. For this reason, it was used for religious gatherings, especially in particular celebratory moments. The sanctuary of Medhelanon was an ellipse with axes of 443 m (1,453 ft) and 323 m (1,060 ft) located near Piazza della Scala.^[55] The urban planning profile was based on these early paths, and on the shape of the sanctuary, reached, in some cases, up to the 19th century and even beyond. For example, the route of the modern Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza del Duomo, Piazza Cordusio and Via Broletto, which is curvilinear, could correspond to the south side of the ellipse of the ancient sanctuary of Medhelanon.^[55]

One axis of the Medhelanon sanctuary was aligned towards the heliacal rising of Antares, while the other towards the heliacal rising of Capella. The latter coincided with a Celtic spring festival celebrated on 24 March, while the heliacal rising of Antares corresponded with 11 November, which opened and closed the Celtic year and which coincided with the point where the Sun rose on the winter solstice.^[55] About two centuries after the creation of the Celtic sanctuary, the first residential settlements began to be built around it. Medhelanon then transformed from a simple religious center to an urban and then military centre, thus becoming a real village.^[55]

The first homes were built just south of the Celtic sanctuary, near the modern Royal Palace of Milan.^[55] Subsequently, with the growth of the town centre, other important buildings for the Medhelanon community were built. First, a temple dedicated to the goddess Belisama was built, which was located near the modern Milan Cathedral. Then, near the modern Via Moneta, which is located near today's Piazza San Sepolcro, a fortified building with military functions was built which was surrounded by a defensive moat.^[55]

During the

The ancient Celtic settlement was, from a topographic point of view, superimposed and replaced by the Roman one. The Roman city was then gradually superimposed and replaced by the medieval one. The urban center of Milan has therefore grown constantly and rapidly, until modern times, around the first Celtic nucleus. The original Celtic toponym Medhelanon then changed, as evidenced by a graffiti in Celtic language present on a section of the Roman walls of Milan which dates back to a period following the Roman conquest of the Celtic village, in Mesiolano.^[58] In 286, the Roman Emperor Diocletian moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum.^[59] Diocletian himself chose to reside at Nicomedia in the Eastern Empire, leaving his colleague Maximian at Milan.

During the Augustan age Mediolanum was famous for its schools; it possessed a theatre and an amphitheatre (129.5 x 109.3 m), the third largest in Roman Italy after the Colosseum in Rome and the vast amphitheatre in Capua.^[60] A large stone wall encircled the city in Caesar's time, and later was expanded in the late third century AD, by Maximian. Maximian built several gigantic monuments including the large circus (470 × 85 metres) and the thermae or Baths of Hercules, a large complex of imperial palaces and other services and buildings of which few visible traces remain. Maximian increased the city area to 375 acres by surrounding it with a new, larger stone wall (about 4.5 km long) with many 24-sided towers. The monumental area had twin towers; the one included later in the construction of the convent of San Maurizio Maggiore remains 16.6 m high.

It was from Mediolanum that the

After the siege of the city by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence moved to Ravenna. Attila, King of the Huns, sacked and devastated the city in 452 AD. In 539 the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569 the Lombards (from whom the name of the Italian region Lombardy derives), conquered Milan, overpowering the small Byzantine garrison left for its defence. Some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule.^[62] Milan surrendered to Charlemagne and the Franks in 774.

The 11th century saw a reaction against the control of the

A period of peace followed and Milan prospered as a centre of trade due to its geographical position. During this time, the city was considered one of the largest European cities.[28] As a result of the independence that the Lombard cities gained in the Peace of Constance in 1183, Milan returned to the commune form of local government first established in the 11th century.^[66][67]

In 1395,

Milan's last independent ruler,

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 King of Italy in the cathedral. After Napoleon's occupation ended, the Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy and Milan to Austrian control in 1815.^[73]

On 18 March 1848 Milan effectively rebelled against Austrian rule, during the so-called "

Milan's northern location in Italy closer to Europe, secured also a leading role for the city on the political scene. It was in Milan that

In the 1980s, with the international success of Milanese houses (like

Milan is located in the north-western section of the

The administrative comune covers an area of about 181 square kilometres (70 sq mi), with a population, in 2013, of 1,324,169 and a population density of 7,315 inhabitants per square kilometre (18,950/sq mi). The Metropolitan City of Milan covers 1,575 square kilometres (608 sq mi) and in 2015 had a population estimated at 3,196,825, with a resulting density of 2,029 inhabitants per square kilometre (5,260/sq mi).^[86] A larger urban area, comprising parts of the provinces of Milan, Monza e Brianza, Como, Lecco and Varese is 1,891 square kilometres (730 sq mi) wide and has a population of 5.27 million with a density of 2,783 inhabitants per square kilometre (7,210/sq mi).^[10]

The concentric layout of the city centre reflects the Navigli, an ancient system of navigable and interconnected canals, now mostly covered.^[87] The suburbs of the city have expanded mainly to the north, swallowing up many comuni along the roads towards Varese, Como, Lecco and Bergamo.^[88] In the 21st century the Navigli region of Milan is a highly active area with a large number of residential units, bars and restaurants. It is also a well-known centre for artists.^[89]

Milan features a mid-latitude, four-season humid subtropical climate (Cfa), according to the Köppen climate classification. Milan's climate is similar to much of Northern Italy's inland plains, with hot, humid summers and cold, foggy winters. The Alps and Apennine Mountains form a natural barrier that protects the city from the major circulations coming from northern Europe and the sea.^[90]

During winter daily average temperatures can fall below freezing (0 °C [32 °F]) and accumulations of snow can occur: the historic average of Milan's area is 25 centimetres (10 in) in the period between 1961 and 1990, with a record of 90 centimetres (35 in) in January 1985. In the suburbs the average can reach 36 centimetres (14 in).^[91] The city receives on average seven days of snow per year.^[92]

The city was often shrouded in thick cloud or fog during winter, although the removal of rice paddies from the southern neighbourhoods and the

Summers in Milan are hot and humidity levels are high with peak temperatures reaching above 35 °C (95 °F). Due to the high humidity, urban heat effect and lack of wind, nighttimes often remain muggy during the summer months.^[96] Usually the summer enjoys clearer skies with an average of more than 13 hours of daylight:^[97] when precipitation occurs though, it is more likely to be accompanied by thunderstorms and hail.^[97] Springs and autumns are generally pleasant, with temperatures ranging between 10 and 20 °C (50 and 68 °F); these seasons are characterized by higher rainfall, especially in April and May.^[98] Relative humidity typically ranges between 45% (comfortable) and 95% (very humid) throughout the year, rarely dropping below 27% (dry) and reaching as high as 100%.^[97] Wind is generally absent: over the course of the year typical wind speeds vary from 0 to 14 km/h (0 to 9 mph) (calm to gentle breeze), rarely exceeding 29 km/h (18 mph) (fresh breeze), except during summer thunderstorms when winds can blow strong. In the spring, gale-force windstorms may happen, generated either by Tramontane blowing from the Alps or by Bora-like winds from the north. Due to its geographic location surrounded by mountains on 3 sides, Milan is among the least windy cities in Europe.^[97]

The legislative body of the Italian comuni is the City Council (Consiglio Comunale), which in cities with more than one million population is composed by 48 councillors elected every five years with a proportional system, at the same time of the mayoral elections. The executive body is the City Committee (Giunta Comunale), composed by 12 assessors, that is nominated and presided over by a directly elected Mayor. The current mayor of Milan is Giuseppe Sala, an independent leading a centre-left alliance led by the Democratic Party.

The municipality of Milan is subdivided into nine administrative Borough Councils (Consigli di Municipio), down from the former twenty districts before the 1999 administrative reform.^[104] Each Borough Council is governed by a Council (Consiglio) and a President, elected contextually to the city Mayor. The urban organisation is governed by the Italian Constitution (art. 114), the Municipal Statute^[105] and several laws, notably the Legislative Decree 267/2000 or Unified Text on Local Administration (Testo Unico degli Enti Locali).^[106] After the 2016 administrative reform, the Borough Councils have the power to advise the Mayor with nonbinding opinions on a large spectrum of topics and are responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, roads, parks, libraries and local commerce; in addition they are supplied with an autonomous funding to finance local activities.

Milan is the capital of the eponymous Metropolitan city. According to the last governmental dispositions concerning administrative reorganisation, the urban area of Milan is one of the 15 Metropolitan municipalities (città metropolitane), new administrative bodies fully operative since 1 January 2015.^[107] The new Metro municipalities, giving large urban areas the administrative powers of a province, are conceived for improving the performance of local administrations and to slash local spending by better co-ordinating the municipalities in providing basic services (including transport, school and social programs) and environment protection.^[108] In this policy framework, the Mayor of Milan is designated to exercise the functions of Metropolitan mayor (Sindaco metropolitano), presiding over a Metropolitan Council formed by 24 mayors of municipalities within the Metro municipality. The Metropolitan City of Milan is headed by the Metropolitan Mayor (Sindaco metropolitano) and by the Metropolitan Council (Consiglio metropolitano). Since 21 June 2016, Giuseppe Sala, as mayor of the capital city, has been the mayor of the Metropolitan City.

Milan is also the capital of Lombardy, one of the twenty

A wide view of the Milan skyline, with accompanying cityscape, from the roof of the Milan Cathedral

The architectural and artistic presence in Milan represents one of the attractions of the Lombard capital. Milan has been among the most important Italian centers in the history of architecture, has made important contributions to the development of art history, and has been the cradle of a number of modern art movements.

There are only few remains of the ancient Roman city, notably the well-preserved

The largest parks in the central area of Milan are Sempione Park, at the north-western edge, and Montanelli Gardens, situated north-east of the city. English-style Sempione Park, built in 1890, contains the Civic Arena, the Civic Aquarium of Milan (which is the third oldest aquarium in Europe^[125]), a steel lattice panoramic tower, an art exhibition centre, a Japanese garden and a public library.^[126] The Montanelli gardens, created in the 18th century, hosts the Natural History Museum of Milan and a planetarium.^[127] Slightly away from the city centre, heading east, Forlanini Park is characterised by a large pond and a few preserved shacks which remind of the area's agricultural past.^[128] In recent years Milan's authorities pledged to develop its green areas: they planned to create twenty new urban parks and extend the already existing ones, and announced plans to plant three million trees by 2030.^{[citation needed]}

Also notable is

In addition, even though Milan is located in one of the most urbanised regions of Italy, it is surrounded by a belt of green areas and features numerous gardens even in its very centre. The farmlands and woodlands north (Parco Nord Milano since 1975) and south (Parco Agricolo Sud Milano since 1990) of the urban area have been protected as regional parks.^[129][130] West of the city, the Parco delle Cave (Sand pit park) has been established on a neglected site where gravel and sand used to be extracted, featuring artificial lakes and woods.^[131]

The official estimated population of the City of Milan was 1,417,597 as of 31 December 2023, according to the municipality's statistical office.^[133]

Mid-2024 estimates suggest that 3,251,166 people lived in Milan province-level municipality.^[134] The population of Milan today is lower than its historical peak. With rapid industrialization in post-war years, the population of Milan peaked at 1,743,427 in 1973.^[135] Thereafter, during the following decades, about one third of the population moved to the outer belt of suburbs and new satellite settlements that grew around the city proper.

Today, Milan's conurbation extends well beyond the borders of the city proper and of its special-status provincial authority: its contiguous built-up urban area was home to 5.27 million people in 2015,^[10] while its wider metropolitan area, the largest in Italy and fourth largest in the EU, is estimated to have a population of more than 8.2 million.^[12]

Foreign nationality population as of 1 January 2023

Country of foreign nationality	Population
Egypt	45,457
Philippines	38,942
China	37,041
Peru	17,799
Sri Lanka	16,724
Romania	15,673
Bangladesh	12,802
Ukraine	9,704
Ecuador	9,513
Morocco	8,351
El Salvador	6,363
Albania	4,961
France	4,862
Brazil	3,493
Russia	3,407
Iran	3,372
Spain	3,121
Pakistan	2,955
Senegal	2,746
India	2,340
United Kingdom	2,310
Turkey	2,189
Moldova	2,186
Germany	2,133
Bolivia	2,098
Japan	2,006
Georgia	1,976
Tunisia	1,767
United States	1,627
Bulgaria	1,617
Colombia	1,529
Eritrea	1,311
Poland	1,275
Nigeria	1,089
South Korea	1,044
Dominican Republic	1,014
other countries	each <1000

As of 2023, some 301,149 foreign residents lived in the municipality of Milan, representing 21.2% of the total resident population.^[137] These figures suggest that the immigrant population has more than doubled in the last 15 years.^[138]

After World War II, Milan experienced two main waves of immigration: the first, dating from the 1950s to the early 1970s, saw a large influx of migrants from poorer and rural areas within Italy; the second, starting from the late 1980s, has been characterized by the preponderance of foreign-born immigrants.^[139]

The early period coincided with the so-called Italian economic miracle of postwar years, an era of extraordinary growth based on rapid industrial expansion and great public works, that brought to the city a large influx of over 400,000 people, mainly from rural and underdeveloped Southern Italy.^[80]

Decades of continuing high immigration have made the city one of the most cosmopolitan and multicultural in Italy. Immigrants came mainly from Africa (in particular Eritreans, Egyptians, Moroccans, Senegalese and Nigerian), and the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (notably Albanians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Macedonians, Moldovans, and Russians), in addition to a growing number of Asians (in particular Chinese, Sri Lankans and Filipinos) and Latin Americans (Mainly South Americans). At the beginning of the 1990s, Milan already had a population of foreign-born residents of approximately 58,000 (or 4% of the then population), that rose rapidly to over 117,000 by the end of the decade (about 9% of the total).^[140]

Milan is home to the second-largest

The city also hosts an historical African community originating from the Horn of Africa. As of 2023, there were around 4,000 Eritrean, Ethiopian or Somali-born people living in Milan, the overwhelming majority being double-citizens of Italy. and not counting second and third generation migrants. The three countries were all Italian colonies at a time, from 1869 (Eritrea)^{[145][146][147]} to 1943 (East African campaign). Due to the historical links with Italy, a small community originating from the Horn of Africa has established its presence near Porta Venezia district starting from the 1970s.^{[148][149][150][151]} It is estimated that in the "Asmarina" area (Little Asmara) there are around 2,000-2,500 people from the Horn of Africa still living there, along with multiple restaurants, institutes as well as an Ethiopian Church.^{[152][153][154]}

Another notable area with a large presence of foreign residents coming from a specific country is the so-called "quadrilatero di San Siro" or "San Siro casbah" in reference to the large Arab-speaking populaition living in the area.^{[155][156][157][158]} The neighbourhood, consisting of around 6,000 municipal flats, is characterised by the fact of having an estimated 25% share of Arab-speaking inhabitants, mostly hailing from Egypt.^{[159][160][161]} The area has often been described as a banlieue within Milan and has historically had a higher crime rate than the rest of the city. Nevertheless, in recent years many projects have been presented so as to mitigate the marginalisation of its inhabitants. Other areas hosting large Arabic-speaking populations include Maciachini-Imbonati, Corvetto, Comasina and piazza Arcole.^{[162][163][164][165][166][167]}

Milan has a substantial English-speaking community (around 4,500 US citizens, British, Irish and Australian expatriates, excluding double-citizens), and several English schools and English-language publications, such as Hello Milano, Where Milano and Easy Milano.^[137]

Milan's population, like that of Italy as a whole, is mostly Catholic.

Currently, accurate statistics on the Hindu and Sikh presence in Milan metro area are not available; however, various sources estimate that about 40% of the total Indian population living in Italy, or about 50,000 individuals, reside in Lombardy,[187]^[188] where a number of Hindu and Sikh temples exist and where they form the largest such communities in Europe after the ones in Britain.^[189]

Whereas Rome is Italy's political and cultural capital, Milan is the country's industrial and financial heart, being the economic capital of Italy^[13] and it is a global financial centre as well.

Milan is considered, together with London, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Paris, one of the six European economic capitals.^[14]

Milan is one of the wealthiest cities in Italy.

The city is a member of the Blue Banana corridor and of the Four Motors for Europe among Europe's economic leaders. Milan's hinterland is Italy's largest industrial area and its GDP per capita of about €61,200 in 2021 (US$64,300) ranks among Italy's highest.^[199]

The province of Milan is home to about 45% of businesses in the Lombardy region and more than 8 percent of all businesses in Italy, including three Fortune 500 companies.^[200]

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Milan was the 11th-most-expensive city in Europe and the 22nd-most-expensive city in the world in 2019,^[201] while according to Swiss bank UBS it was the 7th most expensive city in the world in 2018.^[202] One of its main roads, Via Monte Napoleone, is Europe's most expensive street as well as the most-expensive street in the world (2024).^[203]

Milan is one of the

Since the late 1800s, the area of Milan has been a major industrial and manufacturing centre. Alfa Romeo automobile company and Falck steel group employed thousands of workers in the city until the closure of their sites in Arese in 2004 and Sesto San Giovanni in 1995.

Other global industrial companies, such as Edison, Prysmian Group, Riva Group, Saras, Saipem, Luxottica, Pirelli, UniCredit and Techint, maintain their headquarters and significant employment in the city and its suburbs. Other relevant industries active in metro Milan include chemicals (e.g. Mapei, Versalis, Tamoil Italy), home appliances (e.g. Candy), hospitality (UNA Hotels & Resorts), food & beverages (e.g. Bertolli, Campari), machinery, medical technologies (e.g. Amplifon, Bracco), plastics and textiles. The construction (e.g. Webuild), retail (e.g. Esselunga, La Rinascente) and utilities (e.g. A2A, Edison S.p.A., Snam, Sorgenia) sectors are also large employers in the Greater Milan. Other major companies based in Milan include Fininvest, TIM Group and Banco BPM.

The main national insurance companies and banking groups (for a total of 198 companies) and over forty foreign insurance and banking companies are located in the city,

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the Milan Cathedral, the Royal Palace of Milan and the Palazzo dell'Arengario in Piazza del Duomo

Tourism is an increasingly important part of the city's economy: with 8.81 million registered international arrivals in 2018 (up 9.92% on the previous year), Milan ranked as the world's 15th-most-visited city.^[208] One source has 56% of international visitors to Milan are from Europe, 44% of the city's tourists are Italian, and 56% are from abroad.^[207] The most important European Union markets are the United Kingdom (16%), Germany (9%) and France (6%).^[207] Most of the visitors who come from the United States to the city go on business matters, while Chinese and Japanese tourists mainly take up the leisure segment.^[207] Milan is one of the international tourism destinations, appearing among the forty most visited cities in the world, ranking second in Italy after Rome, fifth in Europe and sixteenth in the world.^[19][20]

The city boasts several popular tourist attractions, such as the Milan Cathedral and Piazza del Duomo, the

Milan is home to many cultural institutions, museums and art galleries, that account for about a tenth of the national total of visitors and receipts.

Milan's figurative art flourished in the

Milan is a major national and international centre of the performing arts, most notably opera. The city hosts La Scala operahouse, considered one of the world's most prestigious,^[219] having throughout history witnessed the premieres of numerous operas, such as Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi in 1842, La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli, Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini in 1904, Turandot by Puccini in 1926, and more recently Teneke, by Fabio Vacchi in 2007. Other major theatres in Milan include the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Teatro Dal Verme, Teatro Lirico and formerly the Teatro Regio Ducale. The city is also the seat of a renowned symphony orchestra and musical conservatory, and has been, throughout history, a major centre for musical composition: numerous famous composers and musicians such as Gioseppe Caimo, Simon Boyleau, Hoste da Reggio, Verdi, Giulio Gatti-Casazza, Paolo Cherici and Alice Edun lived and worked in Milan. The city is also the birthplace of many modern ensembles and bands, including I Camaleonti, Camerata Mediolanense, Gli Spioni, Dynamis Ensemble, Elio e le Storie Tese, Krisma, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Quartetto Cetra, Stormy Six, Le Vibrazioni and Lacuna Coil.

Milan is widely regarded as a global capital in industrial design, fashion and architecture.^[220] In the 1950s and 60s, as the main industrial centre of Italy and one of Europe's most dynamic cities, Milan became a world capital of design and architecture. There was such a revolutionary change that Milan's fashion exports accounted for US$726 million in 1952, and by 1955 that number grew to US$72.5 billion.^[221] Modern skyscrapers, such as the Pirelli Tower and the Torre Velasca were built, and artists such as Bruno Munari, Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani and Piero Manzoni gathered in the city.^[222] Today, Milan is still particularly well known for its high-quality furniture and interior design industry. The city is home to FieraMilano, Europe's largest permanent trade exhibition, and Salone Internazionale del Mobile, one of the most prestigious international furniture and design fairs.^[223]

Milan is also regarded as one of the fashion capitals of the world, along with

In the late 18th century and throughout the 19th, Milan was an important centre for intellectual discussion and literary creativity. The

In the first years of the 19th century, the ideals of the Romantic movement made their impact on the cultural life of the city and its major writers debated the primacy of Classical versus Romantic poetry. Additionally, Giuseppe Parini and Ugo Foscolo published their most important works, and were admired by younger poets as masters of ethics, as well as of literary craftsmanship.

In the third decade of the 19th century,

After the Unification of Italy in 1861, Milan retained a sort of central position in cultural debates. New ideas and movements from other countries of Europe were accepted and discussed: thus Realism and Naturalism gave birth to prewar Italian movement of Verismo in Southern Italy, its greatest Verista novelist Giovanni Verga formed in Sicily who wrote his most important books in Milan.

In addition to Italian, approximately 2 million people in Northern Italy can speak the

Milan is an important national and international media centre.

risotto alla milanese

Panettone

Like most cities in Italy, Milan has developed its own local culinary tradition, which, as it is typical for North Italian cuisines, uses more frequently rice than pasta, butter than

Season-related pastries include chiacchiere (flat fritters dusted with sugar) and tortelli (fried spherical cookies) for Carnival, colomba (glazed cake shaped as a dove) for Easter, pane dei morti ("bread of the (Day of the) Dead", cookies flavoured with cinnamon) for All Souls' Day and panettone for Christmas. The salame Milano, a salami with a very fine grain, is widespread throughout Italy. Renowned Milanese cheeses are gorgonzola (from the namesake village nearby), mascarpone, used in pastry-making, taleggio and quartirolo.

The

Milan is well known for its world-class restaurants and cafés, characterised by innovative cuisine and design.

Caffè Cova, was established in 1817.^[236] In total, Milan has 15 cafés, bars and restaurants registered among the Historical Places of Italy, continuously operating for at least 70 years.^[237]

Sport

Mediolanum Forum, home of Olimpia Milano

Milan hosted matches at the

2014. In 2018, Milan hosted the World Figure Skating Championships. Milan will host the 2026 Winter Olympics as well as the 2026 Winter Paralympics jointly with Cortina d'Ampezzo

.

Milan, along with Manchester, is one of only two cities in Europe that is home to two European Cup/Champions League winning teams: Serie A football clubs AC Milan and Inter. They are two of the most successful clubs in the world of football in terms of international trophies. Both teams have also won the FIFA Club World Cup (formerly the Intercontinental Cup). With a combined ten Champions League titles, Milan is only second to Madrid as the city with the most European Cups. Both teams play at the UEFA 5-star-rated Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, more commonly known as the San Siro, that is one of the biggest stadiums in Europe, with a seating capacity of over 80,000.^[238] The Meazza Stadium has hosted four European Cup/Champions League finals, most recently in 2016, when Real Madrid defeated Atlético Madrid 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out. A third team, Brera Calcio, plays in Prima Categoria, the seventh tier of Italian football.^[239] Another team, Milano City FC (a successor of Bustese Calcio),^[240] plays in Serie D, the fourth level.

Milan is one of the host cities of the

Mediolanum Forum, with a capacity of 12,700, where it has been hosted the final of the 2013–14 Euroleague. In some cases the team also plays at the PalaDesio

, with a capacity of 6,700.

Milan is also home to Italy's oldest American football team: Rhinos Milano, who have won five Italian Super Bowls. The team plays at the Velodromo Vigorelli, with a capacity of 8,000. Another American football team that use the same venue is the Seamen Milano, who joined the professional European League of Football in 2023. Milan also has two cricket teams: Milano Fiori, currently competing in the second division, and Kingsgrove Milan, who won the Serie A championship in 2014. Amatori Rugby Milano, the most decorated rugby team in Italy, was founded in Milan in 1927. The Monza Circuit, located near Milan, hosts the Formula One Italian Grand Prix.^[241] The circuit is located inside the Royal Villa of Monza park. It is one of the world's oldest car racing circuits. The capacity for the Formula One races is currently over 113,000. It has hosted a Formula One race nearly every year since the first year of competition, with the exception of 1980.

In road cycling, Milan hosts the start of the annual Milan–San Remo classic one-day race and the annual Milano–Torino one day race. Milan is also the traditional finish for the final stage of the Giro d'Italia, which, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, is one of cycling's three Grand Tours.

Education

University of Milan Bicocca

, established in 1998, is the city's newest university.

Milan is a major global centre of higher education teaching and research and has the second-largest concentration of higher education institutes in Italy after Rome. Milan's higher education system includes 7 universities, 48 faculties and 142 departments, with 185,000 university students enrolled in 2011 (approximately 11 percent of the national total)^[23] and the largest number of university graduates and postgraduate students (34,000 and more than 5,000, respectively) in Italy.^[243]

Universities

The University of Milan (also known as the "State University") founded in 1924,^[244] is the largest public teaching and research university in the city.^[245] The University of Milan is the sixth-largest university in Italy, with approximately 60,000 enrolled students and a teaching staff of 2,500.^[246] Most relevant academics are in the fields of medicine, law and politics and sustainability. Notable alumni such as former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Nobel laureates earned their degree at University of Milan.

University of Milano-Bicocca, established in 1998 is the city's newest institution of higher education in science and technology. Built over a once industrial area, today enrolls more than 30,000 students, of which more than 60% are female.^[247] As its older parent institute, it is one of the most sought-after location for medical students.^[248] It ranks as the 82nd-best young college on over 300 institutions in the 2020 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.^[249]

The Polytechnic University of Milan is the city's oldest university, founded in 1863. With over 40,000 students, it is the largest technical university in Italy.^[250] According to the QS World University Rankings for the subject area 'Engineering & Technology', it ranked in 2022 as the 13th best in the world.^[251] It ranked 6th worldwide for Design, 9th for Civil and Structural Engineering, 9th for Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering and 7th for Architecture.^[251] It is the best university in Italy.^[242]

Franciscan friar, physician and psychologist Agostino Gemelli.^[255]

Bocconi University is a private management and finance university established in 1902, ranking as the best university in Italy in its fields, and as one of the best in the world. In 2020, QS World University Rankings ranked the university seventh worldwide and third in Europe in business and management studies,^[256] as well as first in economics and econometrics outside the US and the UK.^[257] Financial Times ranked it the sixth-best business school in Europe in 2018.^[258] Bocconi University also ranks as the fifth-best one-year MBA course in the world, according to the Forbes 2017 ranking.^[259]

Vita-Salute San Raffaele University is a private teaching medical university linked to the San Raffaele Hospital.^[260]

public relations; later it became a point of reference also for business communication; media and advertising; translation and interpreting; communication in culture and arts markets, tourism and fashion.^[261]

Art academies

Milan is also well known for its fine arts and music schools. The Milan Academy of Fine Arts (Brera Academy) is a public

New Academy of Fine Arts is the largest private art and design university in Italy;^[262] the European Institute of Design is a private university specialised in fashion, industrial and interior design, audio/visual design including photography, advertising and marketing and business communication; the Marangoni Institute, is a fashion institute with campuses in Milan, London and Paris; the Domus Academy is a private postgraduate institution of design, fashion, architecture, interior design and management; the Pontifical Ambrosian Institute of Sacred Music, a college of music founded in 1931 by the blessed cardinal A.I. Schuster, archbishop of Milan, and raised according to the rules by the Holy See in 1940, is—similarly to the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome, which is consociated with—an Institute "ad instar facultatis" and is authorised to confer university qualifications with canonical validity^[263] and the Milan Conservatory, a college of music established in 1807, currently Italy's largest with more than 1,700 students and 240 music teachers.^[264]

Transport

Main article: Transport in Milan

Milan is one of the key transport nodes of Italy and southern Europe. Its

Orio al Serio

airports serve the Greater Milan, the largest metropolitan area in Italy.

Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM) is the Milanese municipal transport company; it operates 5 metro lines, 18 tram lines, 131 bus lines, 4 trolleybus lines and 1 people mover line, carrying about 776 million passengers in 2018.^[267] Overall the network covers nearly 1,500 km (932 mi) reaching 46 municipalities.^[268] Besides public transport, ATM manages the interchange parking lots and other transport services including bike sharing and carsharing systems.^[269]

Rail

Underground

The Milan Metro is the rapid transit system serving the city and surrounding municipalities. The network consists of 5 lines (M1, M2, M3, M4 and M5), with a total network length of 112 kilometres (70 mi), and a total of 125 stations, mostly underground.^[271] It has a daily ridership of 1.15 million,^[272] the largest in Italy as well as one of the largest in Europe.

The architectural project of the Milan Metro, created by Franco Albini and Franca Helg, and the signs, designed by Bob Noorda, received the Compasso d'Oro award in 1964.^[273] Within the European Union it is the seventh-largest network in terms of kilometres.^[274]

Suburban

Milan Passerby Railway

As of May 2023^[update], the

Milan Passerby Railway, commonly referred to as "il Passante" and served by double-decker trains every 4/8 minutes in the central underground section.^[275]

National and international trains

Milan Central station, with 110 million passengers per year, is the largest and

Roma Termini.^[265] Milano Centrale railway station is the largest railway station in Europe by volume.^[276] Milano Cadorna and Milano Porta Garibaldi stations are, respectively, the seventh- and the eleventh-busiest stations in Italy.^[265]

Since the end of 2009, two high-speed train lines link Milan to Rome, Naples and Turin, considerably shortening travel times with other major cities in Italy. Further high-speed lines are under construction towards Genoa and Verona. Milan is served by direct international trains to Nice, Marseille, Lyon, Paris, Lugano, Geneva, Bern, Basel, Zurich and Frankfurt, and by overnight sleeper services to Munich and Vienna (ÖBB).^[277] Since 2011 Trenord, has operated both Trenitalia and LeNord regional trains in Lombardy, carrying over 750,000 passengers on more than 50 routes every day.^[278][279]

S.N.C.F. provide overnight services to Paris, stopping at Lyon and Turin.^[280]

Buses and trams

Porta Nuova medieval gate. This type of historical tram is also used in San Francisco, United States^[281]

The

taxi services operated by private companies and licensed by the City Council of Milan. The city is also a key node for the national road network, being served by all the major highways of Northern Italy. Numerous long-distance bus lines link Milan with many other cities and towns in Lombardy and throughout Italy.^[283]

Airports

In the surroundings of Milan there are three airports dedicated to normal civilian traffic (Milan Malpensa Airport and Milan Linate Airport, managed by SEA, and Milan Bergamo Airport by SACBO).

Overall, the Milan airport system handles traffic of over 51.4 million passengers and around 700,000 tons of goods every year and is the first in Italy in terms of passenger volume and cargo volume (the second Italian airport system is Rome with 44.4 million passengers in 2023).^[284] The Milan Malpensa airport, with over 700 thousand tons, confirms the national leadership, processing 70% of the country's air cargo.^[285]

• The intercontinental
  Canton of Ticino. The airport is located 49 kilometres (30 mi) north-west of Milan,^[286] in the province of Varese next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and Piedmont. Malpensa airport is 9th in the world and 6th in Europe for the number of countries served with direct scheduled flights^[287] It is connected to Milan by the Malpensa Express railway service and by various bus lines.^[288] The airport is located inside the Parco naturale lombardo della Valle del Ticino, a nature reserve included by UNESCO in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.^[289][290]
• Milan Linate Airport (LIN) is Milan's city airport, less than 8 kilometres (5 mi) from central Milan, and is mainly used for domestic and short-haul international flights. It served 8.6 million passengers in 2023 ranking as the 8th airport in Italy for passenger traffic.^[291] Linate Airport is hub of ITA Airways together with Rome Fiumicino Airport and is connected the centre of Milan via the M4 blue metro line.
• Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY) is mainly used for low-cost, charter and cargo flights.^[292] The airport is located in Orio al Serio, 3.7 km (2.3 mi) south-east of Bergamo and 45 km (28 mi) north-east of Milan. It is one of Ryanair's three main operating bases, along with Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport.^[293] It served 14.7 million passengers in 2023.^[294] A bus service operated by ATB connects to the airport, about 10 minutes from the Bergamo railway station.^[295]

Lastly, Bresso Airfield is a general aviation airport, operated by Aero Club Milano.^[296] Since 1960 the airport mostly serves as a general aviation airfield for flying club activity, touristic flights and air taxi.^[297] It also hosts a base of the state helicopter emergency service Elisoccorso.^[298]

Cycling

The bicycle is becoming an increasingly important mode of transportation in Milan. Since 2008, the implementation of a city-wide network of bike paths has been initiated, to fight congestion and air pollution. During the COVID pandemic in 2019, 35 km of bike lanes were realized on short notice, to relieve pressure on the subway occupation.^[299]

The

bike sharing

system BikeMi has been deployed in almost all the city and enjoys increasing popularity. Stationless commercial bike and scooter sharing systems are widely available.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy

Milan is twinned with:^[300]

• São Paulo, Brazil, since 1961
• Chicago, United States, since 1962
• Lyon, France, since 1967
• Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 1967
• Frankfurt, Germany, since 1969
• Birmingham, United Kingdom, since 1974
• Dakar, Senegal, since 1974
• Shanghai, China, since 1979
• Osaka, Japan, since 1981
• Tel Aviv, Israel, since 1997
• Bethlehem, Palestine, since 2000
• Toronto, Canada, since 2003
• Kraków, Poland, since 2003
• Melbourne, Australia, since 2004
• Daegu, South Korea, since 2015

The partnership with Saint Petersburg was suspended in 2012 (a decision taken by the city of Milan), because of the prohibition of the Russian government on "homosexual propaganda".^[301] However, it was later restored and as of 2022, St. Petersburg is still listed on Milan's official list of twin towns.^[300]

People

Main article: List of people from Milan

Honorary citizens

People awarded the honorary citizenship of Milan are:

Date	Name	Notes
24 February 1972	Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977)	English comic actor
March 1980	Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989)	Russian nuclear physicist, dissident and activist
December 1988	Alexander Dubček (1921–1992)	Czechoslovak and Slovak politician and dissident
16 February 1990	Paola Borboni (1900–1995)	Italian actress
21 October 2004	Rudolph Giuliani (1944–present)	American politician, former mayor of New York City, and attorney of Donald Trump
3 September 2005	Rania Al-Abdullah (1970–present)	Queen consort of Jordan
10 December 2008	Al Gore (1948–present)	American politician and former Vice President of the United States
18 January 2012	Roberto Saviano (1979–present)	Italian journalist and writer
4 April 2016	Nino Di Matteo (1961–present)	Italian magistrate
20 October 2016	Dalai Lama (1935–present)	Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader[302][303]
10 December 2020	Patrick Zaki (1991–present)	Egyptian student

See also

• List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits
• Outline of Italy
• Outline of Milan
• Biscione
• History of architecture and art in Milan

References