Home to Leonardo's 'Last Supper', Milan is also a town where you'll spend every last penny, writes LORRAINE COURTNEY
THE GOTHS named it “Mailand”, having seized it from the Romans. The “land of May”, a place of warmth and inspiration, has long been an important trading junction. Today it’s the heartland of the Italian economy.
One could say that Milan might as well be left to the armchair traveller. It’s smart rather than attractive. It has smog to rival London’s. Nobody ever accused Milan of being too beautiful. However, it’s a city that inspires deep love and loyalty thanks to its brio, its confident sense of style and its combination of Mediterranean lifestyle and northern Italian efficiency. And, of course, its shopping. Sightseeing is always going to play second fiddle to the city’s endless retail opportunities.
But think of Leonardo da Vinci and the place takes on a different meaning. Think of music, of the giants of Italian opera such as Puccini, Rossini, Bellini and Verdi, and Milan’s image enters an even more seductive sphere. Think of il Risorgimento, the struggle against foreign domination, when Italy was not yet Italy, and in Milan you touch the heart of the Italian conscience.
Leonardo came to Milan in 1481, feeling somewhat disillusioned with the Florentine Court of the Medici. Leonardo’s interest in the secrets of nature and the functioning of the human body, and his passion for maths and mechanics, weren’t really favoured at the Florentine palace. And so he was drawn northwards, to the more enlightened court of Ludovico Sforza, then Milanese ruler.
Leonardo’s arrival was preceded by his letter to the duke, offering his services as painter, architect and, more specifically, military engineer. And with the prospect of more meaningful employment awaiting him, Leonardo was shortly afterwards listed in the register of the royal household as a “pictor et ingeniarius ducalis”, a painter and engineer to the duke.
Today in the heart of Milan stand three buildings that seem synonymous with the Italian genius for uniting art with technology. First, there is the splendid late-Gothic cathedral of Milan – the Duomo – dating from 1386. Built entirely from pink Candoglia marble, it is the largest church in Europe after St Peter’s in Rome. The Duomo, on which Leonardo worked as an architect, can accommodate up to 40,000 people and is adorned with 3,500 marble statues and 135 spires. The central spire is capped by a gilded copper statue of the Madonnina, the city’s traditional protector. She presides over a kingdom of pinnacles and statues, gargoyles and flying buttresses.
The Duomo’s bronze doors are faced with bas-reliefs recounting episodes from the life of the Virgin, the life of Sant’Ambrogio and scenes capturing the history of Milan. You can walk along the marble-decked roof (accessible by lift) where spires and the army of graceful statues can be admired at close range. Here, from a height of 47m, the city below stretches into the Lombardian plain; on a clear day the Alps are visible in the far distance.
Adjacent to the Duomo stands what is perhaps Milan’s most famous landmark: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. Its lofty cast-iron arches reach the height of the nave of the Duomo, while below is the incessant coming and going of people to its fashionable shops and coffee houses.
It is known as il salotta di Milano, Milan’s drawing room, thanks to its elegant cafes. The four mosaics around the central octagon represent Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. Rub the sole of your shoe across the worn bull’s testicles for good luck. Nowhere else, apart from the foyer of La Scala during opening night, can one detect the real distinction of being Milanese than here in the Crystal Palace-stylishness of Milan’s galleria.
The Mecca of the opera world, the Teatro alla Scala catches the eye as one leaves the galleria. The fabulous playhouse opened in 1778. For two centuries it has inspired opera lovers throughout the world; behind its neoclassical facade many musical triumphs have taken place. Puccini, Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini all saw the curtain rise for the premieres of their operas.
The greatest of them all was perhaps Verdi. His passionate love for a united Italy can be found in many of his works. In his opera Nabucco, which had its premiere in Milan on March 9th, 1842, the yearning chorus of the prisoners, “Va pensiero sull’ali dorate ” (“Fly, thoughts, on wings of gold”), soon became an anthem for all of Italy, as Verdi was seen by the people as their secret intellectual leader.
It’s worth getting away from the central fashion strip to explore some of Milan’s charming quartieri.
The Brera neighbourhood, northwest of the Duomo, is a classy, laid-back area full of cafes, antique shops, quirky boutiques and art-supply stores. To the southwest, the Navigli district takes its name from the network of canals that once gave landlocked Milan an outlet to the River Po and the sea; today the area has an artsy, neobohemian vibe, with funky clothes shops, artists’ studios, craft workshops and plenty of happening trattorias, bars and nightclubs to choose from.
Milan is a city-lover’s city. It’s gritty. It’s grimy. It’s Italy at its most cosmopolitan. Cold and often foggy in winter, hot and humid in summer, Milan does not have Italy’s most desirable climate. But few come here for the weather.
Go there
Aer Lingus (www.aer lingus.com) and Alitalia (www.alitalia.it) both fly from Dublin to Milan’s Malpensa. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from Dublin to nearby Bergamo.
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go in the Italian second city
5 places to stay
Antica Locanda dei Mercanti. Via San Tomaso 6, 00-39-02-8054080, www.locanda.it. Charming boutique hotel in an old palazzo in the heart of the city. Good-value accommodation has always been a problem in Italy’s most ostentatiously wealthy city, especially in the centre of town.
Bulgari Hotels and Resorts. 7b Via Privata Fratelli Gabba, Montenapoleone, 00-39-02-8058051, www.bulgarihotels.com. When the luxury jeweller Bulgari went into the hotel business, it did so in style, partnering with Ritz-Carlton and opening this discreet exercise in contemporary urban charm. It’s the unmatchable location that is the first X-factor. The second is the hotel’s garden, which merges visually with the city’s ancient botanical gardens behind. And the third is the interior, which feels like a contemporary gentleman’s club.
Hotel Ariston. Largo Carrobbio 2, 00-39-02-7200055, www.aristonhotel.com. Perfectly located at five minutes from the Duomo and from Navigli, Hotel Ariston is a great welcoming place. Designed with bio-architectural principles in mind.
La Méridien Excelsior Gallia. Piazza Duca d’Aosta 9, 00-39-02-67851. Make like Ernest Hemingway in this art-nouveau gem. He was a one-time guest. Today the hotel is resplendent in 1930s glamour.
Townhouse 31. Via Goldoni 31, 00-39-0270156, www.townhouse.it/th31. This lemon-yellow late-19th-century palazzina, with 18 rooms and suites, is located in a residential neighbourhood in the eastern suburbs and has a hip, friendly vibe. Interiors are suitably chic, in monotone cream with black-stained wood, palm trees in clean ceramic pots, and occasional Oriental artefacts.
5 places to eat
Cova. Via Monte Napoleone 8, 00-39-02-76005578. Teatime at Cova displays the local bourgeoisie in all its awful glory. Order a pot of tea and a plate of pasticcini (little cakes), and sit back to enjoy the show. Dowagers with hairdos you could land on without a parachute and fake-tanned figli di papa in blue blazers and cravats look through the tourists with a mixture of nonchalance and contempt.
Da Giacomo. 6 Via Pascale Sottocorno, 00-39-02-76023313. This high-class trattoria has been pulling in the movers and shakers of the rag trade for decades, alongside financiers and captains of industry. On any given evening, you might see Giorgio Armani tucking into a plate of linguine with scampi and zucchini flowers, or Dolce and Gabbana (actually, these days, Dolce or Gabbana) wrestling with a grilled turbot.
Dolce and Gabbana Gold. Via Carlo Poerio 2a, 00-39-02-7577771. True to its name, gold is everywhere: in the inverted ingot motifs that decorate the lobby desk and the ceiling, in the stairs that sweep up to the restaurant proper and in the latter’s 1970s-style chandeliers and monogrammed linen. The menu doesn’t try to compete with the decor: though presentation and the mix of ingredients nod at fusion, deep down this is good old southern-Italian cooking, with Sicilian, Puglian and Calabrian influences. Book well in advance.
La Pesa. Via Pasubio 10, 00-39-02-6555741. One of La Pesa’s more unusual claims to fame is that Ho Chi Minh was spotted working in the kitchen of this elegant 125-year-old restaurant when he was a student. The renowned kitchen hits all the right spots with wafer-thin cold meats, pan-fried saffron risotto, the inevitable ossobuco and fluffy zabajone caldo.
Lacerba. Via dei Orti 4, 00-39-02-5455475. Futurist recipes (such as fluffy rice on a bed of spinach topped with fresh peas and crushed pistachio) and murals by Depero and Boccioni.
5 places to go
Museo Teatrale alla Scala. Corso Magenta 71, 00-39-02-469-12-49, www.teatroallascala.org. Housed in a series of neoclassical rooms, the Museo Teatrale alla Scala consists of a specialised collection of vintage musical instruments, scores and memorabilia relating to renowned composers and singers associated with the famous opera house (above). But it also allows visitors a glimpse into the auditorium from one of the boxes, a privilege that is suspended only on rehearsal days.
Civico Museo del Risorgimento. Via Borgonuova 23, 00-39-02-88464170. The civic museum detailing Italy’s national rebirth in the 19th century. It shows in interesting, understandable ways the country’s struggle to stay whole. It displays documents, proclamations and drawings of the patriotic struggle when the Italian people revolted against their Austrian rulers who had governed most of northern Italy since the Congress of Vienna, early in the 18th century.
Palazzo di Brera. Via Brera 28, 00-39-02-89421146. This sprawling 17th-century palace houses the masters of European painting. This splendid Renaissance edifice built by the Jesuit order as its college in 1591. Home to some Renaissance gems, including Andrea Mantegna’s Dead Christ (a dazzling exercise in foreshortening), Giovanni Bellini’s moving Pietà and Tintoretto’s dynamic Miracle of St Mark.
Santa Maria delle Grazie. Corso Magenta, 00-39-02089411146, www.cenacolovinciano.it. This famous church and convent is home to one of the best-known paintings in western art: Leonardo’s Last Supper.
Cimitero Monumentale. Piazzale Cimitero Monumentale. Tram numbers 3, 4, 12 and 14 will take you out to the Cimitero Monumentale with its huge family mausoleums that are not that different from the houses of the good Milanese burghers who rest there. One of the most moving tombs is that of the composer Arturo Toscanini’s infant son, decorated with scenes of the boy at play.
Shopping
Il Salvagente. Via Fratelli Bronzetti 16, 00-39-02-76110328, www.salvagentemilano.it. Tons of tightly packed racks offer drastically discounted clothing from big-name European designers such as Chloé and Balenciaga. The whole Il Salvangente shopping experience feels like a sample sale – but without all of those maddening crowds.
Estate. Via Tazzoli 3, 00-39-02-29015130. This outlet of high-end mega-boutique Corso Como offers a slew of discounted goods by designers such as Costume National, Marc Jacobs and Fendi. Saturdays only.
Fox Town Factory Stores. 18 Via A Maspoli, Mendrisio, Switzerland, 00-41-848-828888, www.foxtown.ch. It’s worth taking the 45-minute train ride to Switzerland to shop at this mind-blowing outlet mall complete with Gucci, Prada, Missoni, Helmut Lang, Hanro, Versace and Dolce Gabbana. The prices are right, too.
Serravalle Designer Outlet, Italy’s first outlet village lies about 90km southwest of the city on the Milan-Genoa autostrada. Designed as a twee mock-up of a traditional Ligurian town, the mall harbours more than 180 shops, including Gucci, Dolce Gabbana, Versace, Prada and most of the other big names.
Hot spot
Just Cavalli Café. Via Luigi Camoens, Torre Branca, 00-39-02-311817, www.justcavallicafe.com. Roberto Cavalli is a superdarling of the fashion cognoscenti, and this high-glamour cafe-resto-nightclub is still a runaway hit years seven years after its 2002 opening. It has a stunning location: a glass-shelled boîte at the base of Giò Ponte’s Torre Branca in Parco Sempione, featuring a bucolic torch-lit patio garden with sofas and cushions and flowers. It opens at 8.30pm for (expensive) dinner, courtesy of chef Leonardo Perazzoli – try ossobuco, a signature risotto with (gasp) shrimp and Parmesan – and then morphs into a nightclub, which keeps going until 2am.