Milan

It is sometimes forgotten that Milan has had a long and rich cultural history since Roman times. In the 14th century, it became one of the leading centers of the Italian Renaissance under the Sforza dynasty, the builders of the famous Castello Sforzesco. The cathedral - described by Goethe as a "marble mountain", its construction was begun in the Gothic period and took around 4 centuries - today dominates the entire center as a monumental masterpiece of Italian Gothic architecture. When the façade appears gleaming white again, it fills the Milanese with pride, because they love their cathedral about as much as they love the aperitivo, the hours between 6 p.m. and dinner, when people meet after work in all the city's bars for a glass of wine or prosecco and are served small Italian delicacies - free of charge.

The fact that a church and a lifestyle ritual are equally popular shows the flexibility with which the locals effortlessly build bridges between tradition and daily pleasure. Thanks to the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, the Milanese have the world-famous Pinacoteca de Brera in the artists' quarter of the same name, where you can view paintings by Tintoretto, Caravaggio and Hayez between a stroll through the boutiques, a visit to the furniture design and antique shops and a cappuccino break.

The classical building of Milan's La Scala was also completed under the Habsburgs; it opened in 1778 with an opera by Salieri and was completely renovated in 2004. Today, it is still a mecca for music fans from all over the world, which means that famous conductors and singers consider the grand hotels Principe di Savoia, Grand Hotel et de Milan or trendy designer hotels such as the Bulgari, Four Seasons or Park Hyatt as their "home away from home", depending on their taste. There are also small but fine and very original design hotels such as the Hotel Straf, the Sina the Gray diagonally opposite or the 3Rooms, a three-suite hotel in the well-known lifestyle concept store 10 Corso Como.

Milan is also popular as a stronghold for hotels, which prefer to be located in old palazzi with the latest design. Such as the W Hotel by Starwood (renovation work until 2018), the Sheraton Malpensa or the hotel by Armani, who used it to expand his gigantic 6,000 m2 emporium on Via Manzoni.

Just as effortlessly as the Milanese master the balancing act between art and commerce, they also manage to combine lifestyle and business: Whether wearing the latest fashion, cutting-edge furniture or suits and costumes with natural elegance and paying as much for a designer chair as for an expensive objet d'art. Financial managers, society ladies and creative people from the worlds of fashion and design form an interesting, affluent clientele that dominates the city's restaurant scene at lunchtime and in the evening.

Here, the spectrum ranges from the traditional trattoria on the corner to the purist, avant-garde design of Trussardi alla Scala. The place for all those who want to see and be seen is strategically located between the city's living room, the lively Piazza del Duomo with its surrounding bustling street canyons, and the Golden Quadrilateral, the center of the shopping vanity between Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga, Via Sant'Andrea and Via Manzoni, where the shop windows themselves are works of art and all the fashion designers from Alaia to Prada show today in their latest collections what will be fashionable tomorrow.

Between the cathedral and the fashion district lies the shopping temple of the Belle Epoque, the glass-roofed Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, which guarantees a good mood even in bad weather. Here, the high heels of Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik clatter on antique marble floors, people meet in the Gucci Café, in La Zucca, the birthplace of Campari, or at Savini.

Claudia Bette-Wenngatz (2007) updated 2017

Milan may be stingy with beauty at first glance, but the northern Italian fashion and trade fair city is elegant and lively on closer inspection. A creative fashion, design and lifestyle scene, luxurious hotels and restaurants, magnificent gardens and courtyards - not forgetting the cathedral, a masterpiece of Italian Gothic architecture.

! Photo: © Britta Lüdecke / pixelio.de!

Highlights

Connoisseur special tip:
The most extraordinary slow shopping experience Milan has to offer: 10 Corso Como. A multifunctional space - designed by trendsetter Carla Sozzani - an exciting mix of hotel, gallery, café, bookshop, music store and bar. Away from the fashion stars, it is home to an exquisite luxury range of "no-name labels", which has rightly been elevated to the ultimate "must-see" by the global design and lifestyle scene. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, 10 Corso Como is a little out of the way, but well worth a visit.

10 Corso Como, 20154 Milan
Tel.: +39/02 65 48 31
www.10corsocomo.com

DIPLOMATISCHE VERTRETUNGEN

in Germany
Embassy of Italy
Hiroshimastraße 1-7, 10785 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 254400
Fax: +49 30 25440116
E-mail: segreteria.berlino@esteri.it
www.botschaft-konsulat.com

in Austria
Italian Embassy
Rennweg 27, 1030 Vienna
Phone: +43 1 7125121
Fax: +43 1 7139719
www.ambvienna.esteri.it/ambasciata_vienna

for Switzerland
Italian Embassy
Elfenstrasse 14, 3006 Bern
Phone: +41 31 3500777
Fax: +41 31 3500711
E-mail: ambasciata@ambitalia.ch
www.ambberna.esteri.it

Lage

Italien

Fläche

301 338 km² (Mailand 182 km²)

Bevölkerung

59,8 Mio

Sprache

Italienisch

Hauptstadt

Milan (1.3 million inhabitants)

Religion

Roman Catholic

Weather

Im Sommer sehr warm, im Winter kalt – es kann ergiebig schneien. Nebel und Smog sind an der Tagesordnung.

Beste Reisezeit

Mai und Juni sowie September

Klima

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperaturen	4	8	13	19	23	28	30	29	23	17	10	5
Min. Temperaturen	-2	0	4	8	12	16	18	11	14	9	4	0
Sonnenstunden	2	3	4	6	7	7	9	8	6	4	2	1
Regentage	7	5	7	9	10	7	5	5	6	8	8	7

Zeitverschiebung

Mitteleuropäische Zeit (MEZ) mit europäischer Sommerzeit (kein Zeitunterschied).

Währung

Euro

Visa

Der Aufenthalt für Einwohner von EU-Ländern ist unbegrenzt visumfrei möglich. Notwendig ist ein gültiger Reisepass, für einen Aufenthalt bis zu 3 Monaten ist auch die gültige Identitätskarte ausreichend. Angaben ohne Gewähr. Nähere Informationen bei Ihrer Botschaft.

Vaccinations

none