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Milan is often underrated in artistical terms: within one km from Duomo there are Santa Maria del Satiro built by Bramante with the first example of deceiving scenery, San Bernardino delle Ossa a church whollu covered by bones (ossa),then San Nazaro and Santa Maria del Carmine, a little farther Porte di San Lorenzo.
There are things, it will be just necessary to look for them.
Yes Milan is very dull and overrated as a tourist destination. It is mostly a production of the modern industrial age and there almost nothing historic about it. Right accross from the famous Duomo are a symphony of uninteresting modern and drab buildings and that's in the "historic" heart of Milan. Try Torino, Verona, Bologna or Brescia instead..
Yes Milan is very dull and overrated as a tourist destination. It is mostly a production of the modern industrial age and there almost nothing historic about it. Right accross from the famous Duomo are a symphony of uninteresting modern and drab buildings and that's in the "historic" heart of Milan. Try Torino, Verona, Bologna or Brescia instead..
Dunno if it's overrated as a tourist destination. Definitely seems to be overlooked in favour of Rome, Florence, Venice (the holy trinity of Italian cities if you like). That's why I compared it to Frankfurt, a major financial city which is considered for business for sight-seeing. Milan's skyline is also rising fast, trying to complete with Frankfurt and Madrid.
Yes Milan is very dull and overrated as a tourist destination. It is mostly a production of the modern industrial age and there almost nothing historic about it. Right accross from the famous Duomo are a symphony of uninteresting modern and drab buildings and that's in the "historic" heart of Milan. Try Torino, Verona, Bologna or Brescia instead..
Milan is seen mostly as the financial and fashion capital of Italy, without the history and charm of Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples or even some smaller Italian cities like Siena or Verona or Palermo. I visited, and it seemed interesting enough, but i get the impression it's seen as dull, a place people work rather than have fun, like Frankfurt or Zurich. It does lack Roman ruins and a glorious history, but I'm wondering if people perceive it as rather staid and boring? I guess it has the fashion glamour, but it also seems strangely ignored in the reason. I guess it's like a smaller Paris. Are the Milanese in general more 'northern' in temperament? I only visited for an afternoon - a very busy one, I might add - so didn't get a true flavour. It's a pretty nice city, but yeah, isn't as stereotypically Italian as Rome, Florence, even Genoa.etc let alone the smaller cities.
Hi,
I live close to Milan and worked there for years. It can be dull, especially some parts of it, but not boring. The cost of living is very high therefore if one wants to enjoy it, they must be able to afford it. There are nice things to see, the Castle, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, the Duomo, the Navigli area, the fashion district, many museums, the Scala theatre. Only simply walking around is enjoyable, somehow fascinating. It's also very well connected to other cities such as Florence, Venice, Verona, Rome, Naples. You can reach them by train and there are also frequent daily flights.
Yes, Milanese ppl are more northern in temperament.
Milan, or Mediolanum, suffered heavy destruction several times in its history, in both pre-industrial and industrial times.
Nevertheless, both the churches of Sant'Ambrogio and San Lorenzo dating to the late 300s/early 400s are extant and in working order, both featuring beautiful wall mosaics, the latter much less well known, but equally worth a visit if interested in that sort of thing.
Milan offers some very rare and valuable cultural exhibitions from time to time, for example one with artifacts from both the Chinese and Roman Empires, comparing them side by side, things like models of apartment buildings, household items, burial clothes, and such; another example, the drawings of famous early 20th century novelist Herman Hesse.
For those with special interests, the Museo Archeologico in Corso Magenta and the museum at the castle are worth visiting.
I am not an opera fan, but I imagine that what is going on inside La Scala is more interesting than looking at its four walls from outside.
Before electronic readers and tablets, browsing through the Rizzoli bookstore in the Galleria and a few others nearby (Hoepli) was one of life's great pleasures, at least for me once upon a time.
Otherwise, yes, Milan can be dull and boring - lots of dour professional people whose main focus is to make money -, certainly polluted. I left around the time that working through email became widespread and I continued to generate money from there, directly and indirectly serving Italy's multinationals and banks, until around the time that Fiat definitively ceased to be Italian a year or two ago.
I miss those rare and valuable cultural exhibitions, but that's about it.
Well, I lied, sometimes listening to Lucio Dalla's Milano makes me cry. Milan gave me a lot that is rare and valuable.
Location: Near Tours, France about 47°10'N 0°25'E
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Originally Posted by The Postman
Is it the 'Frankfurt of Italy'?
Milan is seen mostly as the financial and fashion capital of Italy, without the history and charm of Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples or even some smaller Italian cities like Siena or Verona or Palermo. I visited, and it seemed interesting enough, but i get the impression it's seen as dull, a place people work rather than have fun, like Frankfurt or Zurich. It does lack Roman ruins and a glorious history, but I'm wondering if people perceive it as rather staid and boring? I guess it has the fashion glamour, but it also seems strangely ignored in the reason. I guess it's like a smaller Paris. Are the Milanese in general more 'northern' in temperament? I only visited for an afternoon - a very busy one, I might add - so didn't get a true flavour. It's a pretty nice city, but yeah, isn't as stereotypically Italian as Rome, Florence, even Genoa.etc let alone the smaller cities.
It is interesting to notice that the city is not seen as quintessetially italian when it is actually italy's biggest urban area.
But it is true that most people think Rome or Naples when they think Italian ambiance, rather than Turin or Milan which are ad big and more economically powerfull.
Milan can be fun if you are just hanging out without anything to do or don't have any expectations. My main attraction was Piazza Duomo, there you will find all kinds of people from every where. Greeks, British, Chinese, Central and South Americans.
I remember seeing Chinese women selling cokes from their backpacks to people at the piazza. Arab men feeding the pigeons then they would get near a tourist and would give them some bird feed so they can try, then they of course request some soldi. British laborers who had been doing some contract carpentry nearby, they said they had been there for over a year. I asked if they spoke some Italian by now. They said no, but they will learn it when they get home.
Sunday evenings some 40+ Salvadorean Pentecostals would show up and would seat at the steps of the Cathedral and begin their protestant chanting. Saturday nights you would find a bunch of rowdy South American drunks with open containers, a group of Carabinieri armed with riot vehicle sprayers would appear, the Carabinieri were patient and would talk to them and everything would quickly calm down.
Within blocks of the area you can find lots of cheap restaurants and gelaterias everywhere. Coffee shops everywhere, used book stores, I remember eating pizza, calzone, spaghetti and drinking beer at a couple of shops nearby everyday, Everything seemed inexpensive. Actually I thought Milano was fun.
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