Our beautiful city Milan is Italy’s northern star and the capital of Lombardy. The city has always been the economic and industrial center of the country but she leads also in areas of: art, design, fashion, finance, commerce and more, making her the third largest economy in Europe after London and Paris.
Every year, Milan hosts more than 14000 international students, thanks to the precence of excellent universities, and you might be one of them!
Here are ten fascinating facts about this global metropolis that you might have not known about and that you can't wait to see after this emergency period!

1. The Celts

Milan was first settled in about 400 BC by Celtic Insubres. The settlement was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC and renamed it Mediolanum.
You can find many tours that will explain you the origin of the city and all the Celtics rests.

2. Cadorna

Something that is not missing in Milan – and in Italy in general – it’s churches. You can visit a variety of different churches, each one with its own peculiarity.
In this area you can walk and find two of the most amazing churches in Milan: Santa Maria delle Grazie, a Renaissance church with refined Gothic interiors, which houses Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper (Cenacolo) and San Maurizio where, as soon as you cross the threshold, you realize that it is one of the most beautiful treasures in Milan.

  

3. Street art

Milan has a great urban soul and its great street art is the example of it.
Here some examples where to find great open air masterpieces

Navigli Canals Area:
Check the Corona Walls in Alzaia Naviglio Grande. The wall is a big statement for a “Free of plastic planet”. Go also via Mangolfa for nice hidden walls celebrating the most famous Milanese poet: Alda Merini.

Via Troilo:
Here you find the most spectacular and big wall of the city. Simply a celebration of music as the beating heart of the universe, which has no limits and rules. Check the wall at night, special colors have been used!

Ripa di Porta Ticinese:
Ripa di Porta Ticinese is the coolest street in Milan. Here you will find vintage and alternative shops; as well as many art works from TV boy. Such as the AC Milan and FC Internazionale football teams ex coaches; also the Salvini and Di Maio “war of social network” and the “Hipster Frida”. All TV boy woks have a title, QR code and explanation next to it.

Colonne di San Lorenzo:
An amazing wall which is a celebration of the exciting history of the city and its main personalities. From Leonardo to Verdi, different artists represented with their own style the ancient history of Milan with a modern touch.

 

4. Flamingos in Villa Invernizzi – Via Cappuccini 7
You can admire flamingos not in a zoo but in the middle of the city! From the iron gates of this private residence you’ll be able to peek at pink flamingos bathing in the fountain and strolling around. They were brought here in the 70s from Africa and Chile by the Invernizzi Family, an Italian-renowned dairy company. The flamingos won’t fly away because their feathers are regularly trimmed and they have adapted into this new environment. In this perfect garden with roses and magnolia flowers they are extremely fond of their meals consisting of shrimps and mixed grains.

5. Villa Necchi Campiglio – Via Mozart 14
Immersed in a large private garden with swimming pool and tennis court in the center of Milan, Villa Necchi Campiglio was completed in 1935. The project was by the architect Piero Portaluppi, on behalf of the Necchi Campiglio family, members of the rich and elegant industrial bourgeoisie of Milan thirties.
You can enjoy for free the external part with the garden and the pool, surrounded by colorful flowers. If you want to visit the internal part you have to buy a ticket apart.

6. Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci – Sant’Ambrogio stop
If you are passionate about technology and Leonardo da Vinci, this is the right place. The National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" opened in 1953, with its total 50.000m² it is the largest technical-scientific museum in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. It has the largest collection of machine models in the world made from designs by Leonardo da Vinci.
You will be amazed by the works that are there: from planes to submarines, from trains to astrophysical instruments.

 

7. La Martesana – Via Melchiorre Gioia 168
La Martesana is a historic area of ​​Lombardy located north-east of Milan, originally completely coinciding with the current concept of Brianza and today instead transferred to the area crossed by the Naviglio della Martesana.
It is one of the best places to spend your time during spring and summer, biking or just walking next to the canal and surrounded by the green. There are some bars and farmhouse to enjoy drinks.

8. Casa Galimberti and Guazzoni – Via Malpighi and Via Melzo
These are two main example of the Liberty stile of the beginning of the 20th century. The first one is a colorful and beautiful palace with nature, flora and fauna, paintings. The second one has amazing sculptures and balcony decorations. Both palaces were designed by the architect Bossi.

9. Ear-shaped Intercom– Palazzo Sola Busca, Via Serbelloni 10
Just around the corner you’ll see a 20s Liberty-style building called Cà dell'oreggia ("Home of the Ear”) named after its huge bronze ear-shaped intercom. It’s a work of art built by Adolfo Wildt in the 30s and it sadly doesn’t operate anymore. It is said that if you whisper your wishes into the intercom, one day your dreams will come true.

10. 770 the house of the Rabbi - Via Carlo Poerio 35
The history and mysteries of the "Dutch", the Jewish building replicated in via Poerio. It is one of 16 houses built the same way around the world, the Milanese one is the only one in Europe. It all started in 1940, from a small Gothic-style building in Brooklyn with this wording "Kansu, bevakashà" ("come in, please"). This is how Rabbi Avraham Hazan opens the door and invites you to enter one of the most mysterious places in Milan: the building at number 35 in via Carlo Poerio. They call it "the Dutchman" (because it resembles the houses of the Netherlands) but, in reality, it is one of the 16 "770 houses" reproduced in the same way, all over the world, by a Jewish community. In neo-Gothic style in the most liberty district of the city, it stands out for the red bricks, the narrow and long windows and the three roofs with their "spiers".