Our Blog - Milan, Italy

It only took 7 months, but we did our first flight out of Toulouse airport and our first trip out of France since we retired and moved here. Hard to believe, huh? And where did we pick? Milan Italy! We had visited multiple cities in Italy before, but never had made it to Milan. We did 3 1/2 days there as the last day was basically breakfast and the trip home. I've split it into 5 different pages, with one page dedicated to the Duomo (Milan Cathedral) since we have so much on that one thing.

Comme d'habitude (as usual), we start with the history and general information about Milan. Most people think of Milan only as a fashion capital, which it is, but it is also known for a lot of innovation that goes on here. In terms of GDP, it has the third largest economy among European cities and the wealthiest among European non-capital cities. It is the biggest city in Italy after Rome with a population between 1.3 million (city proper) and 8.1 million (what is called the Greater Milan area). This "Greater Milan" metropolitan area is actually the largest in Italy.

As you would imagine, the city is VERY old, dating back to 600 BC. Initially a Gaulish/Celtic city, it came under Roman rule in 222 BC. Emperor Constantine granted religious tolerance (basically, allowing Christianity) within the Roman empire in 313 AD via the Edict of Milan. It took another 67 years, until 380 AD, for Christianity to become the official religion of the empire. The city of Milan (and the surrounding area) changed hands many times over the years ... Goths, Visigoths, Huns ... France, Swiss, Spain, Austrian ... until 1861 when the Kingdom of Italy was formed.

A few interesting factoids from more recent history ... Mussolini began his March on Rome in 1919 from Milan. During WWII, Northern Italy was still occupied by German forces until 1945, even though Italy had surrendered in 1943. The resistance seized control of the city and executed Mussolini along with several members of his government. On 29 April 1945, the corpses of Mussolini, his mistress, and other Fascist leaders were hung in Piazzale Loreto in Milan.

Go straight to Milan Day 1

Go straight to Milan Day 2

Go straight to Milan Day 3

Go straight to Milan Day 4

Go straight to Milan Duomo

or go back to the main blog.