MILAN, mĭl'ạn or
mĭ-lăn', second city of
Italy, the capital of the province of Milan, an
archiepiscopal city on the Olona, about 90 miles
by rail northeast of Turin. It is situated in a
beautiful and fertile plain between the Adda
and Ticino, which feed several canals, one of
which, encircling a considerable portion of the
interior of the city, divides it into two unequal
parts. The town is built in the form of an
irregular polygon, and is surrounded, except on
the castle side, by a wall or rampart called the
Bastione, encircled on the outside by a fine road
shaded by chestnut-trees. Suburbs have sprung
up beyond this circuit, and the general railway
station is also outside. The city is entered by
11 gates, several of which are magnificent. The
streets leading from these gates are wide, well
paved and lighted and traversed by electric
street car lines; the lateral streets are less
commodious. The houses are built mostly of brick, but have often a handsome and showy exterior. The principal street is the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, a prolongation of the new and handsome Corso Venezia, together leading from the cathedral to the Porta Venezia; other good streets are the Corso Porta Romana, Via Torino, Via Dante, etc. The chief square is the Piazza del Duomo, in which stands the Duomo or cathedral; and another is the Piazza della Scala. Besides fine public gardens (Giardini Pubblici) there is a large public park (Parco Nuovo) occupying an area that was long a drill-ground, and was previously the site of the citadel and connected works. This has been finally laid out and planted, and an artificial lake and mound have been constructed. Adjoining these is an amphitheatre, capable of containing 30,000 spectators. The castle — recently restored and now converted into a museum of art and antiquities — fronts the park on one side; at the opposite side is the Porta Sempione with the fine Arco Sempione or Arco della Pace, a triumphal arch of white marble.
Among the public edifices of Milan the first
place belongs to the Duomo or cathedral, a
magnificent structure, inferior in magnitude to
Saint Peter's at Rome, but in some respects not
an unworthy rival. It is built of white marble, and though exhibiting a somewhat incongruous mixture of styles, in which the ancient Gothic occasionally gives way to the modern Italian, is one of the most impressive ecclesiastical edifices in the world. The Duomo in its present form was commenced in 1387, and is not yet entirely completed. Its form is that of a Latin cross, divided into five naves, terminated by an octagonal apsis, and supported by 52 octagonal pilasters of uniform size, except four, which,