Must-see attractions in Milan

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Sforza Castle, Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

    Castello Sforzesco

    Milan

    Originally a Visconti fortress, this iconic red-brick castle was later home to the mighty Sforza dynasty, who ruled Renaissance Milan. The castle's…

  • Courtyard of Pinacoteca di Brera.

    Pinacoteca di Brera

    Milan

    Located upstairs from one of Italy’s most prestigious art schools, this gallery houses Milan’s collection of Old Masters, much of it ‘lifted’ from Venice…

  • Fondazione Prada building complex exterior.

    Fondazione Prada

    Milan

    Conceived by designer Miuccia Prada and architect Rem Koolhaas, this museum is as innovative and creative as the minds that gave it shape. Seven renovated…

  • MILAN, ITALY - JUNE 22:  A general view of the atmosphere at GQ Celebrates Jim Nelson's 10th Anniversary as Editor-in-Chief Party on June 22, 2013 in Milan at Villa Necchi on June 22, 2013 in Milan, Italy.  (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for GQ)

    Villa Necchi Campiglio

    Milan

    Designed by homegrown talent Piero Portaluppi, this exquisitely restored 1930s villa was commissioned by Pavian heiresses Nedda and Gigina Necchi (of the…

  • Prada shop front in Quadrilateral del’Oro

    Quadrilatero d'Oro

    Milan

    A stroll around the Quadrilatero d'Oro, the world's most famous shopping district, is a must even for those not sartorially inclined. The quaintly cobbled…

  • Interior of Casa Museo Boschi-di Stefano

    Casa Museo Boschi-di Stefano

    Milan

    Milan’s most eccentric museum of 20th-century Italian painting is crowded in a 1930s apartment that still has the appearance of the haute-bourgeois home…

  • View of Parco Sempione

    Parco Sempione

    Milan

    Situated behind Castello Sforzesco, Parco Sempione was once the preserve of hunting Sforza dukes. Then Napoleon came to town and set about landscaping…

  • Basilica di Sant’Eustorgio exterior.

    Basilica di Sant'Eustorgio

    Milan

    Built in the 4th century to house the bones of the Three Kings, Sant'Eustorgio is one of Milan's oldest churches. Its harmonious exterior belies its…

  • Street view of Mudec museum of culture.

    Museo delle Culture

    Milan

    Aiming to be a place of dialogue between people and world cultures, Milan's Museum of Culture, housed in the ex-Ansaldo factory, has an ambitious remit…

  • MILAN - APRIL 15: People at Triennale during Fuorisalone, international furnishing accessories exhibition April 15, 2010 in Milan, Italy.; Shutterstock ID 54193582; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    Triennale di Milano

    Milan

    Italy’s first Triennale took place in 1923 in Monza. It aimed to promote Italian design and applied arts, and its success led to the construction of…

  • The Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli entrance.

    Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli

    Milan

    A life story unfolds as you follow pebble paths past bumper cars and a carousel, onwards past games of football, kissing teens, a beer kiosk, babies in…

  • MUBA sign outside the Rotonda della Besana

    MUBA

    Milan

    Housed in the deconsecrated church in the centre of the extraordinary hectagonal structure of the Rotonda della Besana, MUBA is Milan's first centre for…

  • View of Arco della Pace

    Arco della Pace

    Milan

    Situated at the northwestern edge of Parco Sempione is Napoleon's 25m-high triumphal arch. Designed by Luigi Cagnola in 1807, it echoes Paris' Arc de…

  • Inside Orto Botanico

    Orto Botanico

    Milan

    Maria Teresa had the towering gingko planted here in 1777, when she turned the former Jesuit orchard into an open-air lecture hall for budding botanists …

  • Inside Giardini della Guastalla

    Giardini della Guastalla

    Milan

    This pretty garden with its baroque fish pool and rare, well-tended flora, is the oldest park in the city. It was created in 1555 by the young widow…

  • Museo Bagatti Valsecchi entrance.

    Museo Bagatti Valsecchi

    Milan

    Though born a few centuries too late, the Bagatti Valsecchi brothers, Fausto and Giuseppe, were determined to be Renaissance men, and from 1878 to 1887…

  • Palazzo Morando Museum in Milan, houses the Milan Museum and the Costume Fashion Collection. milan italy April 30, 2018 (Photo by Oscar Gonzalez/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Human Interest, Milan, Palazzo Morando, Italy, Architecture, Lifestyle, Culture, House, Milan Fashoin, Milan Fashion Collection, Fashion House

    Palazzo Morando Costume Moda Immagine

    Milan

    Dominating Via Sant'Andrea is the baroque facade of the Palazzo Morando Attendolo Bolognini, home to the Bolognini family until 1945. The personal…

  • Interior of Museo Poldi Pezzoli.

    Museo Poldi Pezzoli

    Milan

    At the age of 24 Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli had inherited not only his family fortune, but also his mother’s love of art. After extensive travels in which…

  • Entrance of the Milan Planetarium

    Civico Planetario Ulrico Hoepli

    Milan

    Deep stargazing has found its place in Italy’s biggest planetarium. Not only will it open your eyes to the wonders of the universe, it does so in very…

  • Basilica di San Simpliciano exterior

    Basilica di San Simpliciano

    Milan

    San Simpliciano is one St Ambrose's four Milanese churches, built on a paleo-Christian cemetery with a red-brick Romanesque wrapping. Martyrs Sisinio,…

  • High walls of Arena Civica

    Arena Civica

    Milan

    The arena was Napoleon’s mini-colosseum, which he opened in flamboyant style with a chariot race in 1807. Built by Luigi Canonica, its design allowed it…

  • Entrance to the Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Ossa

    Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Ossa

    Milan

    This church dates from the 13th century, when its ossuary was used to bury plague victims from nearby San Barnaba hospital. It was rebuilt in rococo style…

  • Stazione Centrale exterior.

    Stazione Centrale

    Milan

    Annually, nearly 100 million people pass through these hulking portals and onto train platforms beneath a cinematic cylindrical glass roof. Begun in 1912…

  • The Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore is a roman catholic church in Milan city in Lombardy region of northern Italy; Shutterstock ID 1924100390; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other:
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    Basilica di San Lorenzo

    Milan

    It's difficult not to be bowled over by this oft-ignored hotchpotch of towers, lodges, apses and domes. In spite of appearances, it really is the one…

  • Museo Civicio di Storia Naturale from the park

    Museo Civico di Storia Naturale

    Milan

    This grand neo-Romanesque building houses Milan's natural history museum, complete with dinosaurs, fossils and the largest geology collection in Europe…

  • Outside the Rotonda della Besana

    Rotonda della Besana

    Milan

    It’s said this former cemetery to the poor was once the burial site for nearly 150,000 people. Now it’s the charming setting for a picnic, read or wander,…

  • Galleria d’Arte Moderna inner courtyard entrance

    Galleria d’Arte Moderna

    Milan

    Napoleon’s temporary Milanese home, the 18th-century Villa Reale, now houses Milan's modern art collection. Made up of bequests from leading Milanese…

  • Exterior of Torre Velasca.

    Torre Velasca

    Milan

    Studio BBPR’s 1958 skyscraper is an iconic Milanese landmark. The top-heavy tower camply tilts at Castello Sforzesco and the Duomo’s lovely buttresses…

  • Italy, Milan - 04 December, 2022: Permanent exhibition space with luxury dresses and costumes. Armani Silos, the fashion art space in Milan dedicated to the Armani style. Armani dresses.; Shutterstock ID 2244482255; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other:
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    Armani Silos

    Milan

    Housed in a fiercely contemporary concrete building created from a defunct grain silo, Giorgio Armani's eponymous museum showcases his love of elegant…

  • View of Torre Pirelli

    Torre Pirelli

    Milan

    Construction began in 1956 on Milan’s tallest grattacielo (skyscraper). The 32-storey Pirelli Tower sits on the site of the company’s 19th-century factory…

  • Entrance to the Torre Branca

    Torre Branca

    Milan

    Giò Ponti's spindly 1933 steel tower (built in two months flat for a Triennale exhibition) provides a fantastic 108m-high viewing platform over Parco…

  • San Lorenzo Columns seen from below.

    San Lorenzo Columns

    Milan

    The freestanding row of 16 Corinthian columns from Milan’s Mediolanum heyday were salvaged from a crumbling Roman residence and lined up here to form the…

  • Interior courtyard entrance to Front entrance to PAC

    Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea

    Milan

    Art and design intertwine at the city’s ground-breaking contemporary galleries. Leading the pack is PAC, which mounts experimental exhibitions in…

  • The exterior of Casa Galimberti

    Casa Galimberti

    Milan

    Casa Galimberti, with its ceramic tiles depicting bourgeois beauties, is one of the finest pieces of fin-de-siècle Liberty architecture in Italy.

  • The entrance to the former Cinema Dumont

    Cinema Dumont

    Milan

    The former Cinema Dumont, with its concrete garlands of flowers, is a fine example of fin-de-siècle Liberty architecture.

  • Exterior of Casa Guazzoni

    Casa Guazzoni

    Milan

    One of Milan's fin-de-siècle Liberty treasures, with intricate wrought-iron balconies.

  • Pirelli HangarBicocca

    Milan

    This stunning, multipurpose exhibition space inhabits a huge former locomotive factory on the outskirts of Milan. Temporary exhibits include smartly…

  • Fondazione Nicola Trussardi

    Milan

    Fashion house Trussardi's provocative, nonprofit foundation is neither a museum nor a collection, but acts as an agency for the promotion of contemporary…

  • Casa Milan

    Milan

    Designed by Fabio Novembre, this huge, glass wedge topped by a giant TV screen houses the new HQ of AC Milan, incorporating not only the club’s admin, but…

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