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Lombardy /
Milan
The region of Lombardy’s capital city is Milan, at the heart of continental Europe’s cultural contribution to the world.
Rivaling only Paris in France as a mecca for design, high-fashion and innovation in textiles, the city is considered as the most important in the country. Its famed Fashion Week showcase the established fashion houses’ latest clothing creations as well as the more cutting edge neophytes and their showcase collections.
Today the city is a highly urbanized area in the country that counts itself as a foremost business and financial centre where the hustle and bustle of city-life finds a most artistic match in its exports.
The continental climate of Milan is attributed to being part of the north of the country, bordered by the mountain ranges to the north as part of the Lombardy region’s plain area. But against the characteristic fog rising from the Po river are the romance and drama of the medival ages that continue to house modern Milan life.
A visit to the city will not be complete travel back in time to the Rennaisance. A good placce to start would be to set foot in the Castello Sforzesco, a glorious palace where the Sforza-Visconti ruling families and royalty of Milan once resided. When it was part of the Hapsburg empire, it had later been converted into the Austrian governor's residence. Today the castle is home to a range of museums in the fields of applied arts, ancient art, historical musical instruments, prehistory, Egyptian art and fine arts.
Another grand Italian tradition is opera—where the songs of the great singers echo, visitors are sure to find the most reknown opera house in the world, the La Scala Theatre. This Rennaisance architectural marvel first welcomed theatre—goers in the 18th century and has continued to stage lavish production upon its renovations in 2004. Aside from being able to view an actual production in the opera house, visitors are enjoined to learn of the history behind this masterpiece of architecture and its contribution to the operatic arts by visiting the Museo Teatrale alla Scala, A museum dedicated to La Scala Theatre.
