Caesars, Napoleon and Mussolini all shaped Milan, whose strategic position produced a dramatic past. Commercial Milan helped create the city-state, and the Edict of Milan in 313 CE ended the persecution of Christians. This 3.2km, two-hour walk from Piazza del Duomo to Piazza Castello moves from Roman beginnings to industrial ambition and the city's most turbulent episodes.
At a glance: begin at Piazza del Duomo, finish at Piazza Castello, and allow 2 hours for the 3.2km route.
| Start | Finish | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Piazza del Duomo | Piazza Castello | 3.2km; 2 hours |
Begin at Milan's Duomo, whose exterior is crowded with a pantheon of marble saints. It is a dazzling sight and the world's third-largest cathedral. Work began in 1386, and construction continued for six centuries. That unusually long creation follows much of Milan's history, while the finished building expresses the city's ambition and inventiveness.
Walk to the nearby Ambrosiana, home to an impressive art collection and one of Italy's greatest libraries. Cardinal Federico Borromeo founded the library in 1609. Its most prized displays include pages from Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus, with his handwritten ideas and designs visible behind glass.
Take Via Torino toward the Ticinese area. The 16 monumental Corinthian columns that now form the portico of the Basilica di San Lorenzo originally belonged to a Roman temple or bath. On nearby Via Edmondo de Amicis, the ruins of the amphitheatre offer another glimpse of the ancient city.
Continue to the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio. Built over a paleo-Christian burial site, it holds the bones of St Ambrose, Milan's favourite bishop and patron saint. Its hybrid Lombard Romanesque style is a vivid record of the city's layered history.
The Tempio della Vittoria, or Temple of Victory, is a fascist-style mausoleum built to honour the soldiers who died in WWI. Giovanni Munzio designed it. Look at the columns and you can still make out the fascio littorio, the bundle of sticks used as a fascist symbol.
Travel back to Roman Milan, or Mediolanum, at the city's Civico Museo Archeologico, the Archaeological Museum. It occupies a former 8th-century monastery and preserves fragments of the city's Roman walls, along with precious remnants of glass, grave goods and jewellery.
The walk ends at Castello Sforzesco, a turreted red-brick castle that embodies Milan's chameleon-like instinct for survival. It now houses several museums, and the art inside traces the rise and fall of the city's fortunes. Leonardo da Vinci also frescoed some of the castle's halls.