812 



MILAN MILITARY DISTRICT. 



:nid by the peace of Campo-Formio (1797), it was 

 annexed to the Cisalpine republic. Although the 

 Algerians and Russians annihilated this republic in 

 1709, yet Bonaparte again became master of Italy 

 by the battle of Marengo, changed the name into the 

 Italian republic (1801), and into that of kingdom of 

 Italy (1805), of which the duchy of Milan constituted 

 an important part until the events of 1814. Austria 

 then united Milan and Mantua with the Lombardo- 

 Venetian kingdom, the western part of which, the 

 government of Milan, contains 2,194,000 inhabitants, 

 and 8437 square miles. Sardinia also recovered its 

 former portion of the Milanese territory, (3095 square 

 miles), by the treaty of Paris, in 1814. See Austria, 

 Italy, Lombardy, and Sardinia. 



MILAN (Milano, in German Mailand, anciently 

 Mediolanum) ; capital of the Lombardo- Venetian 

 kingdom, situated in a fertile and pleasant plain, on 

 the left bank of the Oloua, 140 leagues from Vienna, 

 1 10 from Rome, 160 from Paris ; lat. 45 28' N.; Ion. 

 9 11' E.; population, 129,000. It is one of the 

 richest, most splendid and populous cities in Italy; 

 and, in spite of time and wars, has preserved a great 

 part of its magnificence. Of the antiquities the only 

 remains are the ruins of the Thermas, which are 

 usually called the colonne di S. Lorenzo. Milan is 

 rich in architectural monuments of modern times, 

 among which the celebrated cathedral is the most 

 remarkable : the foundation was laid in 1386, and, 

 after St Peter's, it is the largest church in Italy. It 

 is built entirely of white marble, and its interior and 

 exterior produce an indescribable effect. The oldest 

 architects, who worked upon it, adopted the latter 

 Gothic style ; but in the middle of the sixteenth cen- 

 tury, Pellegrino Tibaldi erected the front in a more 

 ancient style, and thus destroyed the unity of the 

 whole. Napoleon almost completed it at an immense 

 expense. The emperor Francis appropriated 12,000 

 lire monthly to finish it. While the exterior dazzles 

 and astonishes the beholder by the pure brilliancy of 

 the marble, the Gothic ornaments and the statues (of 

 which there are 4000), he is not less strongly affected 

 by the interior, which rests upon fifty-two marble 

 columns. It is, described by Franchetti in Descrizione 

 storica del Duomo di Milano, with engravings. Rupp 

 and Bramati also published a description hi 1823, 

 under the title Descrizione storico-critica del Duomo 

 di Milano. One of the oldest churches in Milan, 

 that of St Ambrose, into which you descend by several 

 steps, is remarkable for a number of antiquities, but 

 is dark, and without beauty. Of the numerous other 

 churches, many are splendid. The former Domini- 

 can convent, Madonna delle Grazie, contains, in its 

 refectory, the celebrated fresco of Leonardo da Vinci, 

 the Last Supper, now much injured, but yet beauti- 

 ful. The former Jesuits' college of Brera, a magni- 

 ficent building, remarkable also for its observatory, 

 still contains several establishments for the arts and 

 sciences ; among them a picture gallery and a library. 

 The former is particularly rich in works of the mas- 

 ters of the Lombard and Bolognese schools ; the 

 latter is valuable. The Ambrosian library, founded 

 by the cardinal Borromeo (who was bishop of Milan 

 in 1595, and died in 1631) contains, besides the 

 books, a treasure of valuable manuscripts (among 

 them, those of Leonardo da Vinci), paintings, sketches 

 (Raphael's cartoons of the school of Athens) , antiques 

 and casts in plaster. The abbate Angelo Maio, 

 who, was appointed librarian in 1819, has made some 

 important discoveries among these manuscripts. (See 

 Library.) The military geographical institute of 

 Milan, founded in 1801, has published an atlas of 

 the Adriatic sea and other charts. Among the char- 

 itable institutions, the great hospital is the most 

 remarkable, on account of its architecture, magnitude, 



and the care paid to the patients (4000). The Laza- 

 retto, a large quadrangular building, formerly used 

 during the prevalence of the plague, has now a differ- 

 ent destination. The theatre della Scala of Milan, is 

 one of the largest in Italy, and, perhaps in Europe. 

 It was built by Piermarini, in 1778, and is superior 

 to all others in its accommodations. The operas and 

 ballets are here exhibited in a style not surpassed for 

 brilliancy and completeness in Italy. Besides this, 

 there are the theatres Re, Canobiana, Carcano, &c. 

 Milan contains a great number of palaces, and other 

 handsome buildings, but the streets are not in general 

 broad or straight. The Cor so (the Porta Orientale), 

 with which the public gardens form a beautiful pro- 

 menade, is particularly fine. The gardens are not so 

 much frequented as the Corso, in which the fashion- 

 able world parades afoot and on horseback, but 

 principally in rich equipages, every evening. The 

 principal articles of commerce are corn, rice, silk and 

 cheese. The number of manufactories is considerable. 

 The arts and sciences are held in high esteem, and 

 the Milanese school of engraving is favourably known. 

 The environs of the city are fertile ; two large canals 

 are connected with the Ticino and the Adda, and the 

 Alps of Switzerland are visible. 



MILESIAN TALES. See Romance. 



MILDEW. See Fungi, 



MILE. See Measures. 



MILETUS ; a city of Asia Minor, on the Meander, 

 the Ionian Athens (see Ionia), and, next to Ephesus and 

 Smyrna, the most celebrated and important commer- 

 cial city of Ionia. It early acquired wealth and power, 

 founded a great number of colonies, and carried on 

 long and expensive wars with the Lydian kings. 

 After the conquest of Lydia by Cyrus, Miletus, with 

 the rest of Ionia, was also reduced under the Persian 

 dominion. The city was treated with clemency, and 

 continued to enjoy its former prosperity, although 

 often shaken by internal dissensions, until the Ionian 

 war, when it was razed to the ground (B. C. 494). 

 The inhabitants rebuilt the town, but it never recov- 

 ered its ancient importance. Miletus was the birth- 

 place of Thales, of Anaximander, ^Eschines, and the 

 celebrated Aspasia. The Milesian woollen manufac- 

 tures were famous in ancient times. 



MILFORD HAVEN ; a deep inlet of the sea, in 

 Wales, county of Pembroke. Several plans have 

 been proposed, at different times, for improving its 

 accommodations. These plans have given rise to 

 the new town of Milford, or 



Milford Haven; a town which was founded in 

 1790, on the northern shore, six miles west by north 

 of Pembroke, and lias risen with great rapidity. The 

 houses are built with neatness, and even elegance. 

 It has a church with a lofty tower, a custom-house, a 

 plain but commodious building, and a dock-yard, 

 which forms a principal feature in the plan. A line 

 of packets have been formed here, under excellent 

 regulations, for conveying the mail and passengers to 

 Waterford in Ireland. An establishment has been 

 also formed for the southern whale-fishery. There 

 is also an extensive establishment of quarantine. 



MILITARY ART. See Army, Military Sciences, 

 Militia, and War. 



MILIARY FEVER ; a name given to fevers of 

 every description, when accompanied by an eruption 

 of miliary vesicles, so called from resembling millet 

 seed. 



MILITARY COLONIES OF RUSSIA. See 

 Colonies. 



MILITARY DISTRICT, or MILITARY FRON- 

 TIER (in German, Militairgrenze) ; a district of the 

 Austrian monarchy, containing 18,230 square miles, 

 with 1, 010,878 inhabitants; which stretches 920 milts 

 along the Hungarian and Trunsylvanian frontiers,, as 



