OUR TRIP TO ITALY APRIL 2007 - MILAN
From Verona we travelled to Milan
which is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of
Lombardy, and is one of the most highly developed urban centres in
Europe.
The municipal border wraps a relatively small area because of the
historical development of high density centres in agriculturally rich
Lombardy.
The city is one of the world's major commercial and financial centres,
and is among the most affluent cities in the European Union.
Milan is also renowned as one of the world capitals of design and
fashion.
Around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres inhabited Milan and the
surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered this
settlement, which had the name Mediolanum.
After several centuries of Roman control, Milan was declared the
capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in A.D.
293. In the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed
freedom of religion for Christians. During the Middle Ages,
Milan prospered as a centre of trade due to its command of the
rich plain of the Po and routes from Italy across the Alps.
Milan suffered severe damage from British and American carpet
bombings especially in 1944 during World War II.
Milan's name is believed by some to derive from the Celtic Medelhan,
meaning "in the middle of the plain", due either to its location in a
plain close to the confluence of two small rivers, the Olona and the
Seveso, or perhaps to its being close to, and roughly equidistant
from, two major rivers, the Ticino and the Adda. The Romans
transcribed the name as Mediolanum, which in Latin could also be
interpreted as meaning "wool in the middle".
Thus arose the legend, built on Celtic lore about the boar
as a mythical animal: according to a prophecy the site for the
settlement would have been indicated to a
Celtic king by the appearance of a wild pig or boar with a ridge of
hair along its back, as reported by Cardano around 1626:
While building the majestic walls
Of the first Town the Insubres have
From the foundation a big boar came
Half silky with hair, and half bare
Hence it was called MILAN
By the Aedui, the Burgundians or the Franks,
And from this had its origin
What others could call HALF WOOL
Today the boar is still sometimes used as a symbol of the city.
Milan is also well known as the seat of the Alfa Romeo motorcar
company, for its silk production, and as one of the world's capitals
for fashion and a world leader for design.
Milan is one of the major artistic centres of northern Italy.
The Duomo,St Mark's Cathedral, the second largest cathedral of the world,
the largest gothic church and the world's largest collection of marble statues
with the widely visible golden Madonna statue on top of the spire,
the symbol of Milan.
The Palaeo-Christian Basilica of San Lorenzo The Biblioteca Ambrosiana, containing drawings and notebooks by
Leonardo da Vinci among its vast holdings of books, manuscripts, and
drawings, and is one of the main repositories of European culture.
The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, housing one of the most
famous paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper.
The Pinacoteca di Brera, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Poldi Pezzoli, the
Bagatti Valsecchi Museum and the Musei del Castello galleries,
host a great number of pictorial masterpieces
Like all other Italian cities, Milan's population is overwhelmingly
Roman Catholic.
Milan has its own historic Catholic rite known as the Ambrosian Rite.
It varies slightly from the typical Roman Catholic rite. The
Ambrosian rite is also practiced in other surrounding locations in
Lombardy and in the Swiss canton of Ticino.
The Gregorian chant was completely unused in Milan and sourronding
areas, because the official one was its own Ambrosian chant,
definitiveley established by the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and
earlier than the Gregorian.
The city has a large international airport known as Malpensa
International Airport (MXP), located near the industrial towns of
Busto Arsizio and Gallarate and connected to the downtown with the
"Malpensa Express" railway service (from Cadorna Station).
It is from here that we departed with a humble knowledge of the greatness of Italy and it past history as a World Power(THE ROMAN EMPIRE). We have enjoyed the beauty of its past architecture, religious history, art, sculpture, frescos and cruisine.
