Milan History and Culture
Home to La Scala - one of the most prestigious opera houses
As Milan's spirit floats between its cultural heritage and present-day refinement, visitors are urged to do likewise. The first site that deserves your attention is Milan's world-famous 14th-century Duomo. Nothing in Italy depicts gothic architecture as effectively or beautifully as this imposing yet graceful structure, garnished with lacy flying buttresses, belfries, gables, and steeples reaching up to the heavens; inside is just as grand and impressive. Its adjoining Baptistery is also worth seeing, especially for Church history/philosophy buffs, as it is widely believed that it is the site in which St. Ambrose baptized St. Augustine. After such marvelous architecture, it is now time to revel in Milan's superlative art. Inside the Pinacoteca di Brera we find one of the city's finest galleries. For all those who passed through a few Renaissance art history lectures in college, several of its works will ring a bell and will hopeful help you understand how and why strokes of a paintbrush can offer profound inspiration. Chief among such works is Mantegna's Dead, or Foreshortened Christ. While there is little remarkable in yet another piece depicting Christ, there is in the way he is presented with its perspective putting us at his heals to gaze over his lifeless body. Moving to the Santa Maria delle Grazie we find what is perhaps the Renaissance's most iconic image, Da Vinci's Last Supper. Witnessing this grand mural is a truly magical experience for its artistry, sheer size, intimacy, which is partially attributed to the church's rule of only allowing 25 viewers at a time. Plenty of other art permeates Milan, and all of it is worth embracing with as much enthusiasm as you can muster. One item that must be born in mind is that Milan is home to La Scala, one of Europe's most prestigious opera houses. So after you pass through Milan's several elegant fashion and accessory shops on Via Monteapoleone and Corso Vittorio Emanuele in the heart of the shopping district, pop back to your hotel, dress yourself in raiment befitting a sophisticated Milanese man or lady, and head off to prime your palate with a glass of wine for an exceptional dinner.
Milanese Cuisine
Due to Milan's cosmopolitan, international flare, we see a special emphasis on nouvelle cuisine that combines the hearty, buttery, and cheesy local flare with the most cutting edge cooking techniques and styles. Dishes still largely consist of Lombardy's delicious cheeses like taleggio, stracchino, gorgonzola, mascarpone, and, of course, butter, which makes Milanese cuisine heavy, if incredibly tasty. But with Milanese chefs embracing the tenants of French cuisine (smaller portions, pairing lighter flavors with the heavier), many of the dishes that incorporate such ingredients somehow make for a lighter experience and allow for the people of Milan to still fit in their chic designer clothes! Unlike in the more southern provinces, rice, not pasta, reigns supreme, offering such dishes as the creamy saffron infused risotto alla milanese. For meats there is the famous veal alla milanese, a delightful breaded cutlet, arrosto, roasted beef, veal, or pork, and a host of excellent salumi, cured meats, from bresaola to exquisite sausages. And while seafood has never been a part of its traditional cuisine, Milan's international dimension gets all sorts of varieties from the Mediterranean to even as far away as the Atlantic. The wine selection is just as cosmopolitan as everything else in Milan, offering both the best vintages made in Italy and around the world. However, the regional wines, like the sparkling Franciacorte and the red Viltellina Superiore DOCG, pair very nicely with the local food. If you want to try something local but just outside of the region, look to the wines of Piedmonte, which are among the world's best.
Vacations you may enjoy in Milan:
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