Although Florence was founded under the Romans in 59 BC, its meteoric rise did not begin until about ~1,000 AD. The intervening years saw Florence weather Gothic invasions, Byzantine rule, Lombard control, Frankish conquest under Charlemagne. A thousand years of the same struggle for incremental gains that most every city in the world was experiencing, until Florence’s petri dish yielded something entirely unique. Going into the 1400s, Florence had a unique combination of enormous private wealth, political competition, educated merchants, civic pride, and intense rivalry among wealthy families. You might assume that they the powers that be would opt to duke out their competitions in war, business, and industry (and there was certainly some of this), but the Florentine elite chose a new arena for competition: the arts. You may have heard of the Medici? This was one of those wealthy families that is famously supported some of the artists that would establish Florence as a cultural juggernaut and kick-start the Renaissance. They even have their own Netflix show now.
Milan (or, in Italian, Milano) is not a city that is known for its beauty—at least not within Italy. But I never thought this was fair. Yes, Milan prioritizes function over form, and is more of an industrial hub than any other city in Italy… but the rest of Italy sets an extremely high bar for what it means to be a ~beautiful city. In most other countries, this would be considered an absolutely gorgeous city, but when you’re competing with Rome, Florence, and Venice… yeah, it’s going to be a losing battle. But comparison is the thief of joy, and Milan is still quite beautiful in its own rite! More to the point; it will give you a better window into what everyday life looks like for Italians much better than Venice or Florence ever could. This is real life, and—to me—real life in Milan looks pretty damn good.
Duomo di Milano is arguably the center piece of Milan, and the plaza bearing its name—Piazza del Duomo—sits at the center of “Central Milan”. We’ll branch out to other parts of the city in forthcoming articles, but today, we’re only going to focus on the comings and goings of this little area.
I arrived in Italy pretty directionless, so their vivid descriptions of discovering beautiful seaside towns along the Italian Riviera that were completely void of tourists were enough to sell me. Of course, that was the 1980s, and today it isn't quite the same, but Cinque Terre is still incredible.
Buckle in.
