Milan,
Turin and the Italian North
Are so many the enchantments of the Northern Italy, a
place filled with colourful villages and spectacular landscapes,
that we will remain only with some of the most outstanding
places.
Turin is the capital of the Piedmont region and is located
at the riverside of the Po. Its royal residences, of extraordinary
historical-artistic value, have been declared Patrimony
of the Humanity. Among them, the visitor found the residence
of the Court, the Royal Palace, erected in the seventeenth
century; the old dwelling place of the Royal ladies, the
palace Madama; the castle of Rivoli -that lodges the museum
of Contemporary Art-, and the castle of La Mandria, residence
during long periods of Vittorio Emanuele. The symbol of
the city is the Mole Antonelliana, erected to be an Israelite
temple and present seat of the museum of the Cinema.
Other visits of great interest are the Carignano palace,
that lodges the museum of the Italian Risorgimento, and
the Sabauda gallery, with a work collection of Piedmont
artists, Flemish and Dutch canvas. Recently, the museum
of Modern and Contemporary Art has been opened to the
public. The religious building that wakes more devotion
in the city is, without any doubt, the Cathedral dedicated
to San Giovanni, and that lodges the chapel of Guarino
Guarini, place where is conserved the Holy Shroud. In
the heart of old Turin we still can find vestiges of the
Roman times, like the Palatine towers, with the rest of
the Roman Theater, and the Pretoria door, included in
the architecture of the Madama palace. The only gothic
building of the city is the church of San Domenico, from
the fourteenth century.
Milan is an industrial city in great economic height but
it is also an historical place with an intense cultural
life. Its gorgeous gothic cathedral, the Duomo, located
in the piazza of the same name, is the greatest jewel
of the city. Constructed in pink white marble of Candoglia,
it has more than 2,000 statues and 135 pinnacles and is
crowned by the famous golden statue of the "Madonnina".
In the rectangular small square located in the South flank
of the cathedral it’s the neo-classical Royal palace.
In its museum, located in the ground floor, we found a
synthesis of its six centuries of history. In the fourteenth
century the church of San Gottardo in Corte, was transformed
and adapted to the neo-classic taste of the time.
Connecting the Duomo and the Scala piazzas is located
a spectacular vaulted construction: the concurred Vittorio
Emanuele gallery, filled with luxurious coffee shops and
elegant stores and bookstores. Once crossed, the visitor
arrive to the Scala, famous lyrical theater, of neo-classic
style and presided over by the monument to Leonardo Da
Vinci. In spite of their outer simplicity, the best works
of the belle canto take place in the Scala. From there,
we can go to the palace of Brera, in the street of the
same name. This monumental building lodges the academy
of Beautiful Arts, the National library and the astronomical
observatory.
The Sforzesco castle is the greater civil monument of
the Renaissance period. This defensive fortress guards
several museums and one complete painting gallery. Other
places of interest in the city are the church of Santa
Maria delle Grazie, where is conserved "The Last
Supper" by Leonardo Da Vinci, the Ambrosian painting
gallery, with the "Codices" of Leonardo and
paintings of the Lombardian, Flemish an Venetian schools,
and the basilica of San Ambrosio, one of the more important
medieval buildings of Lombardy.
From Milan the visitor can go to other interesting places
in the outskirts, like Bérgamo and Monza. The valley
d´Aosta, located in the Northwest extreme of the
Italian peninsula, was in other times the traditional
way of passage between Savoy and Lombardy. This extensive
valley surrounded by enormous mountains, like Mont-Blanc,
Cervino and Monte Rosa, was partially isolated of the
rest of Italy until year 1965, date in which the tunnel
of the Mont-Blanc was opened.
It conserves an important Monumental Patrimony, with several
Roman museums, a dozen of feudal castles, churches, gothic
and Renaissance paintings and interesting Neolithic necropolis.
Its capital, the city of Aosta, have a Renaissance cathedral
and a great number of Roman monuments. Other interesting
places of the Italian north are Brescia, with their Renaissance
Loggia, their cathedral and its excellent painting gallery,
and Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet, with interesting
buildings like the Roman circus, the church of San Zeno
and the fortress of Castelvecchio.
In Vicenza, it is recommendable to visit the set of Renaissance
palaces that border the corso Palladio; in Padua, the
chapel of the Scrovegni decorated with frescos of Giotto,
and the famous lake of Como. In the region of Emilia-Romagna,
that extends from the limits of Liguria to the Adriatic
Sea, one is not due to ignore a visit to his capital,
Bologna. It has an interesting historical center with
the Comunale palace, of the fourteenth century, and the
historical set of San Dominico, with three churches and
a convent constructed between the eighteenth and twelfth
centuries.
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