50 Fun Facts About Milan

Milan is the capital of which Italian region?

The region takes its name from the Germanic people who conquered the city in 569 and made Pavia their capital.

What was Milan's name under the Romans?

It comes from a Celtic name meaning a settlement in the midst of the plain; the Romans took the city in 222 BC.

From 284 to 402 AD Milan served as capital of what?

Diocletian moved the capital from Rome and left his colleague Maximian in charge there; Honorius later fled to Ravenna.

Which emperor issued the Edict of Milan in AD 313?

He was in the city for his sister's wedding to the eastern emperor Licinius; the edict granted tolerance to all religions.

Who is the patron saint of Milan?

The 4th-century bishop is also patron of beekeepers, and Milan's Catholic rite is still called Ambrosian.

Which two dynasties ruled the Duchy of Milan in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance?

Between them came the short-lived Ambrosian Republic, named after the city's saint.

Which duke built the castle that bears his family name in the 15th century?

He raised it on the remains of a 14th-century fortification; it became one of Europe's largest citadels.

Which sculpture by Michelangelo, his last, is kept in the Sforza Castle?

The castle museums also hold Leonardo's Codex Trivulzianus and Mantegna's Trivulzio Madonna.

In which year did construction of Milan Cathedral begin?

Archbishop Antonio da Saluzzo started it; the final details were only completed in 1965.

Roughly how long did Milan Cathedral take to complete?

Napoleon ordered the facade finished in 1805 so he could be crowned there; a statue of him sits on one of the spires in thanks.

What tops the highest spire of Milan Cathedral?

The polychrome Madonnina was designed by Giuseppe Perego and raised on Carlo Pellicani's spire in 1762.

How tall is the Madonnina's spire on Milan Cathedral?

It was erected in 1762 to a design by Carlo Pellicani and carries the gilded Madonnina.

Who was crowned King of Italy in Milan Cathedral in 1805?

He had earlier made Milan capital of the Cisalpine Republic after invading Italy in 1796.

In which year did La Scala open?

It was originally called il Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala and opened on 3 August.

Which composer's opera Europa riconosciuta opened La Scala?

The same opera reopened the house in December 2004 after restoration, conducted by Riccardo Muti.

Who conducted the concert that reopened La Scala in May 1946 after wartime bombing?

Renata Tebaldi's soprano solo at the concert created a sensation; the house had been badly damaged in 1943.

Leonardo's The Last Supper is painted on the wall of which building?

It covers the end wall of the convent dining hall and measures 460 by 880 centimetres.

Which patron commissioned The Last Supper?

Known as il Moro, he later invited Charles VIII of France into Italy, unleashing the Italian Wars.

Why has The Last Supper deteriorated so badly?

The materials let him revise slowly, but the paint began to flake within decades.

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is Italy's oldest active what?

Built between 1865 and 1877, it houses Biffi Caffè, founded in 1867, and the Borsalino hat shop of 1883.

What do visitors do to the bull mosaic in the Galleria for luck?

The bull is from Turin's coat of arms, and the ritual has worn a hole in the mosaic.

Who designed the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II?

Beltrami rebuilt the Sforza Castle, Piermarini designed La Scala and Ponti the Pirelli Tower.

What is the Milanese term for the city's system of canals?

There are five, including the Naviglio Grande, and Leonardo da Vinci redesigned and improved them for the Sforzas.

What happened to Milan's inner ring of canals in the 1930s?

That doomed the north-eastern canals; a 1960s plan for a river port linking to the Po and the Adriatic was shelved.

The Great Plague of Milan in 1629-31 killed roughly how many of the city's 130,000 people?

Alessandro Manzoni described the devastation in his novel The Betrothed.

The Five Days of Milan in 1848 was an uprising against which power?

It started the First Italian War of Independence; Vienna had regained the region at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Mussolini launched which event from Milan on 28 October 1922?

His Blackshirts had first rallied in the city's Piazza San Sepolcro.

In which Milan square was Mussolini's body displayed in April 1945?

Resistance members had been executed in the same square a year earlier.

Roughly what share of Italy's GDP comes from Milan's metropolitan area?

The city is home to Borsa Italiana, Italy's main stock exchange, and eight Fortune 500 Europe companies.

Milan hosted the Universal Exposition in 2015 and in which earlier year?

The 2015 fair was held on a site north-west of the city and drew pavilions from more than 140 countries.

What was the theme of Expo 2015 in Milan?

The other slogans belonged to Shanghai 2010 and Dubai 2020.

Milan co-hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics with which resort?

The Paralympics were shared with the Dolomites resort as well.

In which year was Milan Fashion Week established?

It is one of the Big Four alongside New York, Paris and London.

AC Milan was founded in 1899 by an expatriate of which nationality?

Herbert Kilpin set it up as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club, choosing red for ardour and black for opponents' fear.

How many European Cup/Champions League titles has AC Milan won?

Only Real Madrid have more; the club also shares the record of three Intercontinental Cups.

Which media tycoon bought AC Milan in 1986 and appointed Arrigo Sacchi?

He saved the club from bankruptcy; his Fininvest empire also built the Milano 2 housing project.

Inter was founded in 1908 by dissidents breaking away from which team?

The split from Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club came on 9 March 1908; Inter won its first title in 1910.

What distinction does Inter hold in Italian football?

Its unbroken run in the top division dates from its debut in 1909; the 2010 treble was Italy's first.

The San Siro stadium is officially named after which player?

The two-time World Cup winner played mostly for Inter; the ground was renamed in his honour in 1980.

What is the San Siro's nickname?

With 75,817 seats it is the largest stadium in Italy.

Which spice gives risotto alla milanese its yellow colour?

Legend credits a glass painter working on the cathedral windows with adding his yellow pigment to a wedding rice dish.

Cotoletta alla milanese is traditionally a breaded cutlet of which meat, fried in butter?

A dish called lumbolos cum panitio, chops with bread, was served in the city as early as 1134.

Which sweet Christmas bread is associated with Milan?

The word comes from Milanese dialect panattón, an augmentative of pan, bread.

In which year did Line 1 of the Milan Metro open?

Its architecture by Franco Albini and Franca Helg and its signage by Bob Noorda won the Compasso d'Oro that year.

What is distinctive about the Bosco Verticale towers in the Porta Nuova district?

The 'Vertical Forest' pair, inaugurated in 2014, hosts more than ninety plant species.

The Arch of Peace at the end of Corso Sempione is often compared to which monument?

It stands at the end of the boulevard named for the Simplon Pass, beside the park behind the Sforza Castle.

Which newspaper, founded in Milan in 1876, is one of Italy's oldest?

Its publisher RCS also produces La Gazzetta dello Sport, the most widely read daily in Italy.

Milan's main intercontinental airport, Malpensa, lies in which province?

It sits in the town of Ferno, well north-west of the city.

Which carmaker employed thousands in the Milan area until its Arese plant closed in 2004?

The Falck steel group's Sesto San Giovanni works had shut in 1995.

Around what year was Milan founded by a Celtic tribe?

Livy's legend credits the Gaulish prince Bellovesus, sent south by his uncle Ambicatus.