Milan
Milan is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. The city proper (Comune di Milano) has a poulation of 1,308,735 inhabitants (2004). The population of the urban area (Greater Milan, La Grande Milano), comprising of the core of Lombardy, is estimated as of 2006, to be 4,280,820 people. Finally, the official population of the Milan Metropolitan area counts around 7,400,000 residents (2006)[citation needed]. Milan is one of the most highly developed urban centres in Europe.
By population, Milan is Italy's first and Europe's third metropolitan area[citation needed]. Municipal borders wrap a relatively small area—about one-eighth that of Rome—because of the historical high density of population centres in agriculturally rich Lombardy. The urban agglomoration centred around Milan includes some Swiss territories in southern Canton Ticino: this does not imply any kind of administrative unity, however. Milan is considered an "alpha" world full service city in the GaWc inventory.
The city is one of the world's major commercial and financial centres, and one of the wealthiest cities in the European Union[citation needed]. Milan is also reknown as one of the world capitals of fashion—along with New York City and Paris.[1] Indeed the English word milliner is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for its fashion houses and shops (such as along via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo, reputed to be the world's oldest shopping mall. Another famed Milanese product is the traditional Christmas sweet cake, called Panettone. Milan is also famous for the Alfa Romeo motorcar and for its silk production; but on the whole relies on its directional functions for the whole of Lombardy, its once proud and strong industrial base having been externalized throughout the region in the 60s-70s of the last century[citation needed]. The city hosted among other events the World Exposition in 1906, the FIFA World Cup in 1934 and 1990, the UEFA European Football Championship in 1980, and has submitted a bid to BIE to host the Universal Expo in 2015.
Tourist attractions
Culture and art
For a complete list of landmarks, see Buildings and structures in Milan
Milan is one of the major artistical centres of northern Italy. An incomplete list of landmarks includes:
The Duomo, the second largest cathedral of the world and the world's largest collection of marble statues.
The Castello Sforzesco
The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
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 city is also the home of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts.
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, which host a great number of pictorial masterpieces
Milan is also one of the most important centres in the world for Opera lirica, with its famous Teatro alla Scala (La Scala).
Food
Like most of the cities in Italy, Milan has its own typical food. This includes "cotoletta alla milanese", a fried veal fillet in bread crumbs, which some say is of Austrian origin. Other typical dishes are "cassoeula" (stewed pork rib chops and sausage with Savoy cabbage and tomato sauce), Ossobuco (stewed marrow-bone with tomato or lemon sauce), risotto alla milanese (with saffron, white wine and bovine marrow), "busecca" (stewed tripe with beans and tomato sauce), "brasato" (stewed beef with wine and potatoes). Season-related pastries are "chiacchiere" (fried flat cookies) and "tortelli" (fried spherical cookies) for Carnival, "colomba" (glazed cake shaped as a dove) for Easter, "pane dei morti" ("Bread of the Dead", they are cookies aromatized with cinnamon) for Halloween and "panettone" for Christmas. The "salame milanese", a salami with a very thin grain, is widespread in all Italy. The most famous Milanese cheese is "gorgonzola".