"Home sweet home!" a Milan Travel Page by draguza

Hi everyone, welcome to MIlan the city of fashion and design...(so to say)
I was born and raised here so if you need any tourist tips feel free to contact me.
A brief history of Milan :

Milan was originally founded by Celtic tribes around 700 BC and in 222 BC it came under Roman control. The Romans called the city Mediolanum, which means “middle of the plain” and rapidly it became a prosperous hub for trade between Rome and western Europe.

In 292 AD, when the Roman empire was collapsing as a superpower it became the seat of the Western Emperors and was the city in which emperor Constantine I granted the Christians freedom of worship. This cleared the way for Christianity becoming the main religion in Europe. With the demise of the Roman Empire the city became vulnerable to barbarian attacks and centuries of chaos followed.

A new period of prosperity began in the 11th century when a town council was formed and trade took off again. This also let to conflict with other cities and in 1162 the Holy Roman Empire Frederick I (aka Barbarossa / redbeard) tried to bring the city once more under the control of Rome. He was defeated by a league of Milan and surrounding towns known as the ‘Lega Lombarda’ in 1176.

The families Torriani, Visconti and Sforza governed Milan for the next centuries until the city came under Spanish control from 1535 . The famous Duomo was build during this period. When the European borders were redrawn with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 Milan became part of the Austrian empire. Monuments from that period include La Scala.

Napoleon chased the Austrians out of Milan in 1797 and made it the capital of his Cisalpine Republic. The Austrians came back however in 1814 and ruled again until 1859 when they were definitely defeated by a coalition of Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II at the Battle of Magenta. In 1860 it became part of the newborn Kingdom of Italy.

In the 20s of last century Italy, while still being a kingdom, turned into a dictatorship ruled by Mussolini who allied himself with Adolf Hitler which subsequently drag Italy into World War II. Milan was heavily bombed, especially after the invasion at Anzio by American troops when the Germans took over power in Italy. In the last months of the war Mussolini formed his Republic of Salo but he was captured by partisans and hung in Piazza Loretto in Milan.

After WW2 Milan recovered quickly and soon became one of the biggest industrial areas in Europe.