The Palazzo Reale sits alongside the Duomo, defined by its long, clean neoclassical facade that creates a recessed courtyard known as the Piazzetta Reale. In the Middle Ages, this site held the Broletto Vecchio, the original town hall…
Classic Milan Historic Center
This elegant walk traces the majestic civic, royal, and operatic landmarks that defined Milan's golden age. You'll experience how 19th-century optimism, grand architecture, and dramatic history shaped the soul of the city's historic core.
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1. Palazzo Reale di Milano
2. Duomo di Milano
The Duomo di Milano is defined by its exterior of pinkish-white Candoglia marble, which is covered in over three thousand statues and one hundred thirty-five stone spires. Construction began in thirteen eighty-six under the direction of…
3. Merchants Square
Piazza Mercanti is distinguished by its ensemble of medieval and Renaissance buildings, including the brick-faced Palazzo della Ragione, which sit in a quiet, pedestrianized space just steps from the modern intensity of the Duomo. Designed…
4. Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a four-story, cross-shaped arcade defined by its soaring central dome of iron and glass. Conceived in the eighteen-sixties to link the Duomo with the Teatro alla Scala, the structure serves as a…
5. Piazza San Fedele
Piazza San Fedele is anchored by a bronze statue of the novelist Alessandro Manzoni, which stands in front of a sixteenth-century Jesuit church. The church, also named San Fedele, was designed by architect Pellegrino Tibaldi and…
6. Palazzo Marino
Palazzo Marino is defined by the heavy, classical stone facade that faces Piazza della Scala, marked by its rhythmic rows of windows and a sense of imposing scale. Built between fifteen fifty-seven and fifteen sixty-three, this…
7. Teatro alla Scala
The Teatro alla Scala is defined by a restrained, neoclassical façade that stands in contrast to the gilded, horseshoe-shaped auditorium hidden within. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria commissioned the building to replace the Teatro Regio…