F1 Holiday part 4: Milan
In the 4th part of our F1 holiday special, F1technical takes you by the hand and leads you to Milan. Milan can be considered as the cradle of motorsport with the famous Monza Formula One circuit located in its suburbs. It's a sparkling city with fashion, culture and sports.
Milan is Italy's cultural, industrial and financial center. It's the capital of Lombardia and one of the main fashion centers in the world.
History
It is presumed Milan was originally founded by the Celts of Northern Italy around 600 BC and was conquered around 222 BC by the Romans, who gave it the name of Mediolanum. In the 4th century, at the time of the bishop Saint Ambrose and Emperor Theodosius I, the city was briefly the capital of the Western Roman Empire. At that time Milan was the second largest city in Europe, with more than 300,000 inhabitants. St Ambrose is now the Patron Saint of the city.
In the 11th century, after the Ostrogothic and Lombard periods, the city regained its importance and led other Italian cities in gaining semi-independence from the Holy Roman Empire. During the Plague of 1349 Milan was one of the few places in Europe that was untouched by the epidemic, but it was deeply affected by the plagues of 1402 (50,000 deaths), 1542 (80,000), 1576 (17,000) and 1629 (also known as Great Plague of Milan, 70,000 deaths). During the Renaissance Milan was ruled by dukes of the Visconti and Sforza families, who had artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Bramante at their service. After trying to conquer the rest of northern Italy in the 15th century, Milan was conquered by France, and then later on by Austria (Habsburg), then given in the early 16th century to the Spanish Habsburg line to rule.
In the 18th century Austria replaced Spain as Milan's overlord, because the Spanish line of Habsburgs died out. But the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars saw the city annexed into the French satellite states of the Cisalpine Republic, which later became the Kingdom of Italy. After this period, Milan was part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia under Austrian rule. Milan eventually became one of the main centers of Italian nationalism, claiming independence and the unification of Italy.
In 1859, after the second of the Wars of Italian Independence, Austrian rule was ended by the Kingdom of Sardinia, which transformed into the kingdom of Italy in 1861. The newly formed Savoy monarchy encouraged the use of the Neo-Renaissance style as a way to express patriotism, an excellent example of which is the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in via Gesù, 5.
As a critical industrial center of Italy, Milan was the target of continuous carpet bombing during World War II. The city was bombed even after Pietro Badoglio surrendered to the allied forces in 1943 - Milan was part of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic puppet state, and an important command centre of the German Army stationed in Italy. When war in Italy was finally over, April 25, 1945, Milan had been heavily damaged and entire neighborhoods such as Precotto and Turro were destroyed. After the war, the city was reconstructed and has again become an important financial and industrial centre of Italy. More than the 30% of the buildings were completely destroyed and another 30% were so heavily damaged that they were demolished in the first years after the war. Most of those buildings are located in the city centre. Hundreds of buildings built in the last 1,000 years were lost.
Economy
Milan is one of the major financial and business centres in Europe. Some of the firms that will interest the motorsport enthusiasts are: Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, Pirelli.
Opera
Milan is one of the most important centres in the world for Opera, with its famous Teatro alla Scala. The Scala is also one of the architectural peaks of Milan.
Sports
Football is the most important sport in Italy, and Milan is home to two world-famous football teams: A.C. Milan and Internazionale. Milan is the only city in Europe whose teams have won both the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. Both teams play at Giuseppe Meazza - San Siro Stadium.
But football isn't the only thing that moves the Italians. The famous Monza Formula One circuit is located in the suburbs. It is one of the world's oldest car racing circuits, and one of the most famous. The capacity for the F1 races is currently around 137,000 spectators, although in the 1950s the stands could hold more than 250,000. It has hosted an F1 race nearly every year since the first year of competition, exception made of 1980.
Milan is a modern city, but also a city with a rich history that translates himself in the architure and ancient buildings. Milan is a city of fashion, shopping, culture and sports and a city you should explore yourself for certain.
