MILAN 



MILAN 



Milan. 1. Entrance of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, from the Piazza del Duomo. 2. View of the city looking north, 

 from the roof of the cathedral. 3. Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the chief thoroughfare. 4. Church of S. Ambrogio 



accommodating 40,000 persons. 

 Sant' Ambrogio, founded by S. 

 Ambrose in the 4th century, con- 

 tains his tomb. It is a Roman 

 basilica, practically rebuilt in the 

 12th, modernised and restored. Its 

 lofty brick campanile, c. 800, is one 

 of the earliest in Italy. Here the 

 Lombard kings and Roman em- 

 perors were . crowned with the 

 famous iron crown preserved at 

 Monza (q.v. ). The monastery ad- 

 joining the church of S. Maria delle 

 Grazie (1463) contains Leonardo 

 da Vinci's painting, The Last 

 Supper. There are many other 

 old churches, museums, picture 

 galleries, hospitals, academy, li- 

 brary, observatory, monuments, 

 scientific, musical, artistic, edu- 

 cational, and philanthropical insti- 

 tutions. The celebrated Teatro 

 della Scala (1778) seats 3,600 

 spectators. 



Prominent among the many fine 

 palaces is the Palazzo della Ragione 

 in the centre of the medieval city, 

 built of brick, 1223-38. Near it is 

 the beautiful Loggia degli Osii, 

 1316, in black and white marble. 

 Milan is rich in works of art, both 

 in sculpture and in painting. The 

 Brera palace, 1651, houses one of 

 the finest collections of paintings 

 in Italy ; its library contains 

 300,000 volumes and about 60,000 

 coins. The castle of the Sforzas 

 contains a valuable archaeological 

 collection. 



The massive walls enclosing the 

 inner city have been destroyed, and 

 their site is occupied by promen- 

 ades. The outer circle of walls, 

 built by the Spaniards in the 16th 

 century, is almost intact. On the 

 N.W. side the line is broken by the 

 handsome New Park ; to the N.E., 

 within the walls are the Public 

 Gardens, reputed the most beauti- 

 ful in Italy, with their old trees, 

 ponds, statues, and royal villa. Be- 

 tween them and the Piazza del 

 Duomo, adorned with an eques- 

 trian statue of Victor Emanuel, 

 runs the Corso named after that 

 king. Out of the Cathedral 

 Square opens the famous Galleria 

 Vittorio Emanuele, a great glass- 

 roofed arcade, with a cupola 160 

 ft. high. 



The centre of the Italian silk 

 trade, Milan manufactures ma- 

 chinery, motor-cars, instruments, 

 locomotives, wagons, carriages, 

 metal bridges and roofing, dyna- 

 mos, cycles, electric cables and ac- 

 cessories, textiles, furniture, etc. 



Milan was the seat of govern- 

 ment of the Western emperors from 

 Maximian, A.D. 286, until its sack 

 by the Huns in 452. Taken by the 

 Goths in 493, it became the capital 

 of Theodoric, but was nearly de- 

 stroyed by the Goths in conse- 

 quence of a revolt in 539. It was 

 rebuilt and in the 12th century was 

 one of the greatest of the city re- 

 publics which fought against 



Frederick Barbarossa. It became 

 the capital of a duchy ruled by the 

 families of Visconti and Sforza. 

 From 1805 to 1814 it was the 

 capital of the kingdom of Italy 

 which was created by Napoleon. 

 After the battle of Solferino the 

 Austrian emperor was obliged, by 

 the treaty of Villafranca, July 11, 

 1859, to resign all claim to the 

 province, and the city of Milan 

 became merged in the kingdom 

 of Italy. Pop. 663,000. See Italy ; 

 Visconti; consult also History of 

 Milan under the Sforza, C. M. Ady, 

 1907 ; The Story of Milan, E. Noyes, 

 1908. 



Milan. Duchy of Italy, now 

 part of the kingdom. The title of 

 duke of Milan was first granted by 

 the emperor Wenceslaus to Gian 

 Galeazzo Visconti (q.v.) in 1385. 

 Under Mm the territory extended 

 as far as Pisa, Bologna, Perugia, 

 and Spoleto. On the death of his 

 son FiJippo Maria, 1447, a republic 

 was proclaimed, but in 1450 

 Francesco Sforza seized the power, 

 and for eighty years with intervals 

 the Sforzas held the duchy. , 



The most famous of the family 

 was Lodovico il Moro, who invited 

 Charles VIII of France to enter 

 Italy, ostensibly for the purpose of 

 waging war against Naples. Victim 

 of his own guile, Lodovico was 

 deposed by the French in 1500, and 

 for twelve years the foreigners 

 held the city. '. Lodovico's son, 



