Antique Austrian

Antique Austrian

Milan - Places to visit and see - facts and figures

Milan Malpensa Airport Car Rental

History and culture
The city's origins date back to 400 B.C when the Gauls settled in this area of the Po Plains, having defeated the Etruscans who were by now in decline.
When the city was conquered by the Romans in 222 B.C. and annexed to the Empire, it was given the name Mediolanum. After some attempts at rebellion, it became a permanent Latin colony (89 B.C.) and then regional capital (15 B.C.). Over the years, Mediolanum acquired the name "Roma secunda" due to its strategic position. After 313 A.D., the year in which the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Tolerance towards Christianity, many churches were built and the first bishop was appointed: Ambrogio was such an influential person that the Church became the Ambrosian Church.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Milan was left to the mercy of the Barbarians, until it was conquered by the Longobards (also known as Lombards) in 569 A.D. Towards the end of the eighth century, the bishops managed to use the influence to full extent, forcing an alliance with the emperors: Ottone of Saxony , who was crowned King of Italy in the Church of Sant'Ambrogio, made this power even more legitimate.
In the first half of the year 1000, The Archbishop of Milan became the most powerful political figure in the whole of Northern Italy. After a series of political problems, Milan became a municipality (1117), and gradually freed itself from the Archbishop. It also began to expand by declaring war on other municipalities in the nearby area. Later the attempt by Frederick I of Swabia to take over the city gave rise to the birth of the Lombard League, which fought for the city's independence, and which ended in 1176 after the defeat of Barbarossa.
From 1200 onwards, Milan became an increasingly important city, and finally changed from being a municipality to a "Seigneury". The city walls were extended, new buildings were built and roads were paved. The Visconti family, noblemen from Bergamo, Cremona, Piacenza, Brescia and Parma came to power in 1300 and brought about a lengthy period of splendor and wealth for the city. Monuments were built, including the famous Duomo in 1386, that soon became the city's symbol. The Sforza family took over from the Viscontis, and with them they brought peace after many years of warring against Venice and Florence. Milan developed sciences, art and literature under the Sforza Duchy: Leonardo da Vinci and "il Bramante" were called to the Court of Ludovico il Moro. When Charles V came to the throne in 1535, the city began a period of almost two centuries of Spanish rule, which is narrated by Alessandro Manzoni in his classic book "I Promessi Sposi" (The Betrothed). At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Austrians arrived in Milan: Milan underwent a deep cultural changed under Austrian rule. The La Scala Theater – where Giuseppe Verdi made his debut – was built, together with many Neoclassical buildings and the Arco della Pace. In 1859, the Austrians were driven out of Milan and the city was annexed to the Kingdom of Piedmont, which then became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Milan was immediately chosen as the economic and cultural capital of Italy, and has maintained this title up to modern days.

Churches and Museums

From the ancient Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio to the huge, majestic Duomo: the greatest symbols of religion in Milan:

The Duomo

The most outstanding example of Gothic-Lombard architecture, the Duomo dates back to 1300. It was built on the wishes of Gian Galeazzo Visconti. This imposing religious building, second only to St Peter's Cathedral in Rome, houses almost 3500 statues that are spread over an area of almost 12,000 square meters. The tallest spire, which has the famous "Madonnina" on top of it, is 108 meters high. The statue of the Virgin Mary, the "Madonnina", is covered in 3900 pieces of gold leaf.

Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio

This is the symbol of Milan's religiousness. It was built in 379 A.D. in the Romanesque-Lombard style, and was consecrated by the famous Bishop Ambrogio, who lent his name to the Ambrosian Church. Inside there are valuable artifacts and works of art that tell the story of about 1600 years of Milan's history.

Basilica of Sant' Eustorgio

A wonderful medieval religious building that was built at the beginning of the fourth century on the wishes of the Bishop Eustorgio who brought the remains of the wise kings here from Constantinople, that can still be seen in the Chapel bearing their name today.

Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore

This wonderful basilica, located opposite the Roman columns that are the only remains of a third-century temple, includes many different architectural styles, due to the various renovations that the building has undergone. The main elements are Paleo-christian (for example the mosaics) but other more recent styles also stand out, including ones from 1600 (the dome) to 1800 (the façade).

Santa Maria delle Grazie

This church was built in the second half of the fifteenth century. It was only completed years later by "il Bramante" on the wishes of Ludovico il Moro. The famous architect designed the wonderful apse, the cloisters and the old sacristy. Leonardo da Vinci painted "The Last Supper" in the refectory, which is one of the most famous works of art ever painted.

A selection of the most interesting museums in Milan that must be visited:

Cenacolo Vinciano

Between 1495 and 1498, Leonardo da Vinci painted the whole wall of the refectory in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with a fresco of The Last Supper, one of the most famous masterpieces in history. This work of art has undergone a restoration that lasted twenty years and which was only recently finished, bringing it back to its full glory and halting the deterioration that was turning it into a faded, shapeless stain.

La Scala Theater Museum

Founded in 1913, this interesting museum houses exhibits of various costumes and theatre sets that are of great historical and artistic value. Some rooms are dedicated to the La Scala Theater's architecture and the life of the famous composer Giuseppe Verdi, while others house ancient musical instruments, curtains and costumes that belonged to famous artists such as Maria Callas and Rudolf Nureyev.

Pinacoteca di Brera

The Pinacoteca di Brera is an art gallery set up in 1809 by Napoleone Bonaparte. It houses a great number of works of art that were "confiscated" from churches and convents throughout Europe. Works to be seen range from the fourteenth to the twentieth centuries, and include masterpieces by artists such as Piero della Francesca (Pala d'Urbino), Raffaello (Sposalizio della Vergine), Mantenga (Cristo Morto), il Bramante and Caravaggio. The courtyard holds a wonderful statue of Napoleon that was created by Canova.

Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

This is Milan's oldest museum, which was opened in 1609 It is home to some masterpieces by artists such as Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello and Botticelli. The Ambrosiana also houses an important library which contains some ancient codes, illuminated manuscripts, and ancient books.

The Museum of Ancient Art

This interesting museum is housed in the splendid Castello Sforzesco, and is home to some of the most important sculptures that help to understand Lombard history and culture. The works come from a period ranging from the 4th to the 16th century. They include the funeral monument for Gaston di Foix and the "Pietà Rondinini" by Michelangelo.

Museum of Science and Technology
This interesting museum, which is named after Leonardo da Vinci and which was recently renovated and housed in an old monastery, is one of the most interesting science museums in the whole world. 40,000 square meters of exhibition space for subjects ranging from astronomy to computers. The models and machines built to the design by the great Tuscan genius cannot be missed.

Places and charm

To discover the most romantic, attractive side of this city: from the picturesque views of the Navigli to the green oases in the center of Milan…

Navigli

The origins of the Navigli date back to about 1100, but this stretch of water was only made navigable from the Ticino to the center of Milan at the end of the 14th century, to help transport the marble that was needed to build the Duomo. The Milan Wharf, that was an important commercial port for river transport for many centuries, was still working up to the end of the Second World War, and then closed permanently in 1979.
Today the Naviglio Grande and the Naviglio Pavese (that connects Milan to Pavia) make up one of the most charming places in Milan, with the old, typical "case di ringhiera" houses, antique shops and hundreds of clubs standing on each side, that are invade the banks of the rivers from April to September with their open-air tables.

Brera

This is one of the most exclusive and fashionable places in Milan, that has an atmosphere vaguely reminiscent of Paris, with its artists, open-air coffee shops and sophisticated boutiques - full of wares for the home and handmade dresses that seem to be creations of sculptors and not dressmakers. This area, that could be described as "luxury Bohemian" includes Via Brera, Via Solferino, Via Pontaccio, Corso Garibaldi and Corso Como. Alongside it there are many eighteenth century palaces including Palazzo Brera at number 28 Corso Como that houses the famous Pinacoteca.

Parco Sempione
This park stands behind Castello Sforzesco. It is huge and fascinating with its lakes, meadows and little bridges. It is the ideal place to spend a Sunday afternoon in the fresh air. The Park is home to monuments such as the Arena Napoleonica, the Tower designed by Giò Ponti and the Triennale di Milano.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele
This was built around 1870 and is called the "salotto di Milano" (The Milan Lounge): If you walk along its cross-shaped "arms", topped by the glass and iron structure, you can see old coffee-shops, restaurants, boutiques and historical bookshops.

Porta Venezia Gardens

These wonderful gardens can be found between Via Palestro and Porta Venezia, the favorite place to be for the Milanese on springtime afternoons. The gardens which were the first to be opened to the public in Milan, date back to the end of the eighteenth century and were renovated in 1880. There are many monuments dedicated to famous characters from Italian history and there are also many botanical species to be admired.

Piazza Mercanti

This characteristic square near the Duomo is surrounded by very interesting historical buildings that represent Milanese culture from the middle ages to the seventeenth century. These include Palazzo della Ragione that dates back to 1200, the Loggia degli Osii, the seventeeth century Palazzo delle Scuole Palatine and Palazzo dei Giureconsulti that stands at the top of Via Mercanti.

Eating and Drinking

Traditional Milanese cooking is made up of simple, meager dishes and perhaps for this reason it was banished during the ambitious 1980s. It has only recently returned to popularity. Milan is a city that lives off fashion and trends: there was Chinese cooking (that was obviously discovered here before it was adopted in the rest of Italy), then Indian cooking, then African cooking, followed by Japanese and Middle Eastern cooking. The Milanese people have now returned to their origins, enjoying the tastes with the pleasure that one feels when one returns home after a long trip. Now there are trattorias, inns and restaurants (including luxury ones) everywhere that offer traditional Milanese dishes to eat.
If you are planning to visit this city, don't miss out on the chance to try some typical food that you can find here in their original version.

We offer you a typically Milanese menu in our guide to Milan, from antipasto to dessert. Actually, from the aperitif, because an evening in Milan cannot go without this ritual.
One of the many aperitifs that you can try out during happy hour is the classical Negroni, which is a little "aggressive" but is especially loved by the Milanese, made with Bitter Campari, Gin, red Martini and ice, that must be tried with a few snacks. After your aperitif you can choose one of the several restaurants in Milan that specializes in traditional cooking. We advise you to start with a traditional antipasto, made of nervetti (boiled calf's shank and knee cartilage cut into strips) and mixed with thinly sliced onions. As a first course you cannot miss out on the classical Risotto alla Milanese, made with a full-bodied beef broth (the original recipe includes bone marrow) and flavored with saffron. As a second course we suggest a classic Milanese dish: "cassouela", an extremely filling dish made with various poor parts of pork meat (tail, ribs, rind, feet and ears) cooked with green cabbage and other vegetables. If you are not feeling so courageous, go for a more traditional dish, a tasty Milanese cutlet that is probably nothing like you've ever tasted in other places: Milan restaurants actually serve a very tasty, crunchy cutlet, made with a veal chop, including the bone. Another alternative is veal tonné, that is a light, tasty veal slice covered in tuna, mayonnaise, anchovy and caper sauce. We recommend an excellent Barbera from the Oltrepò Pavese as your wine.

If you should decide to spend time in Milan that coincides with the Christmas festivities, you could end your lunch with a huge slice of Panettone, the typical local Christmas cake, that is even tastier if you eat it with traditional Mascarpone cream.

There are typical products from the province of Milan, including Salame di Milano, made from finely minced pork and beef meat, and many types of cheese too. Grana Padano is a famous cheese overseas, which comes from the Pò valley that includes the Lombardia, Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia Romagna regions. Mascarpone is also a typical Milanese cheese, that is an essential ingredient for desserts and creams, often mixed with other cheeses, salami or fish. However, the most famous Milanese cheese is without a doubt Gorgonzola, that rich, strongly flavored cheese that reigns supreme at the Milan dinner table. This creamy cheese, that has blue veins running through it, is used to dress tasty first courses (in this case mixed with mascarpone), and to flavor Polenta or can be eaten alone.
Finally, we should remember Crescenza or "Stracchino", the soft, creamy fresh milk cheese
with a slightly sweet taste, that is excellent when spread on a slice of bread or eaten with raw vegetables.

If you are interested in buying foodstuffs or wine, you must visit Peck, a legendary temple of gastronomy. In Via Spadari, where there is also a famous fishmonger's, you will find all you need to satisfy your taste buds and your sense of hedonism: DOP (certified origin) cheeses from all over Italy, all kinds of salami, extra virgin oils, aged balsamic vinegars, rare tea and spice mixtures, pretty preserves of food in oil and a wine cellar that is filled with the most valuable wines from Italy and abroad.

Shopping
Milan is Heaven on Earth for shopping lovers. You can find the best of everything in this city, especially everything connected with fashion and design.
Milan has a wonderful history as a laboratory of creative ideas: The Polytechnic and the Accedemia di Brera have trained fashion designers and other designers who are famous worldwide. They exhibited their creations for the first time in Milan, often creating scandal and revolutionizing fashion with their own personal style, never going unobserved.

In this section, dedicated principally to fashion, we will offer you a small selection of designers born in Milan, or who started their careers here, contributing to the great name of Italian fashion in the world.

Giorgio Armani: born in Piacenza in 1934, the king of Italian fashion started his career in Milan, working as a buyer for Rinascente. At the beginning of the sixties, he left his job to dedicate himself to creating patterns for well-known designers, even though he had no specific training. In 1975 he risked again, starting up the label Giorgio Armani for men and women and he was successful immediately. He built up a close relationship with the cinema world from the start, and was consecrated with his clothes made for "American Gigolo". A young Richard Gere was seen in front of a huge clothes closet, in the dressing ceremony scene, that was arranged in a maniacally perfect order. Foremost symbol of elegance in the 1980s, Armani is still king of world fashion today.

Miuccia Prada: Miuccia Prada, an anti-conformist who was politically active in the 1970s, took over the family company in 1978 that was specialized in bags and leather accessories, and revolutionized everything. Her bags became sought-after pieces and became part of the Milanese landscape. Here unmistakable, minimal-chic style won over the Milanese upper middle classes in the 1980s and 1990s. Her sports range, characterized by the famous "red line" made the label even better known and won over larger shares of the market. However, Prada did not want to be just a reference point for fashion: In 1995, she founded the Fondazione Prada in Milan, an important artistic laboratory and window for contemporary international artists.

Dolce & Gabbana: Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, born in the province of Palermo and in Milan respectively, are the most famous couple in the Italian fashion world. Their style evolves continuously, and is much appreciated by "chameleon-like " stars such as Madonna. They made their debut in Milan in 1985, in the boom period of career women, ambitious and squared-off, just like the shoulder pads that were used to pad their suit jackets. Dolce & Gabbana went against the trend however, and rediscovered the fuller Mediterranean femininity: rounded shapes, petticoats that showed off one's cleavage, loose, wild hairstyles. Sicily will always be a source of inspiration that will win over grey Milan too with its warmth and sensuality.

Gianfranco Ferré: born in the province of Milan in 1944, Gian Grance Ferré gained a degree in architecture at the Milan Polytechnic. After traveling to India, from where he took his inspiration, he started working in the fashion world, with a rational, structured style that gave him the nickname "architect of fashion". The tailored cut of his clothes and the lines of his shapes conquered the world.

Versace: this name owes its fortune to the creativity of Gianni Versace, born in Reggio Calabria and who moved to Milan in the 1970s to work in the fashion world, designing patterns for other designers. Thanks to the managerial skills of his brother Santo, the label Versace was set up a few years later, a daring, aggressive label that is characterized by the unusual matching of colors and geometric patterns printed on silk. After Gianni's death in 1997, the company was taken over by his brother and sister, Santo and Donatella.

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How much is a 5th January 1927 Austrian 10 Shilling note worth in Antique value?

Check with your local coin shop. they have books about these things which they can consult.

Antique Austrian Biedermeier (Circa 1820) ebonized secretary