Horatio Robert Forbes Brown and Thomas Ashby

“ Occupying one end of the Piazza del Duomo is the famous cathedral. It is built of brick cased in marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo Visconti gave in perpetuity to the cathedral chapter. It was begun in 1386. The name of the original architect is unknown, but it is certain that many German master-masons were called to Milan to assist the Italian builders. It was then the largest church in existence, and now, after St Peter’s at Rome and the cathedral of Seville, the Duomo of Milan is the largest church in Europe; it covers an area of 14,000 sq. yds. and can hold 40,000 people. ”

“ Milan has long been famous as one of the great musical centres of Europe, and numerous students resort here for their musical education. There are many philanthropic institutions, the most interesting of which is the Albergo Popolare, an establishment conducted on lines similar to the houses established in England by Lord Rowton in 1894. Sport and athletics are provided by a number of clubs, notably the Touring Club Italiano, founded in 1894. ”

“ Theatrical costumes and appliances are also made in Milan, which is an important theatrical centre. House industry is still widely diffused in Milan itself, especially as regards working in gold, silver, vulcanite, bronze and leather. The motive power for much of the house industry is supplied by electricity. The electricity is partly furnished by hydraulic works at Paderno, 24 m. from Milan; the horse-power is continually being increased owing to new needs. Gas is also much used. Milan is also a centre of the export trade in cheese ”

“ The modern industrial development of Milan, with its suburbs and neighbouring towns, such as Monza, Gallarate, Saronno, Busto Arsizio and Legnano, has been noteworthy. Machine-making on a large scale is carried on by firms widely celebrated for the construction of locomotives, railway trucks and carriages, steam-boilers and motors, turbines, pumps, metal bridges and roofs. ”

“ There is also a large carriage industry. In textile industries silk holds the first place. The amount of silk handled and woven in Milan is greater than that dealt with at Lyons. Spinning and twisting are as highly developed as the weaving industry. Milan is also the centre of the Italian cotton industry. ”

“ In the upper rooms is placed a large collection of Milanese and central Italian ceramics, stuffs, furniture, bronzes, ivories, enamels, glass and historical relics; together with a picture gallery containing works by Vincenzo Foppa, Gianpietrino, Boltraffio, Crivelli, Pordenone, Morone, Cariani, Correggio, Antonello da Messina, Tiepolo, Guardi, Potter, Van Dyck and Ribeira.
The finest of the modern thoroughfares of Milan is the Via Dante, constructed in 1888 ”

“ The Cistercian abbey-church of Chiaravalle, 51/2 m. south of Milan, is a fine brick building in the plan of a Latin cross, with nave and two aisles with round pillars, with a lofty domed tower, in the so-called Romanesque Transition style, having comparatively slender round pillars and cross vaulting, while the exterior is still quite Romanesque. It was founded in 1135 by St Bernard and consecrated in 1221. It is interesting as the model for the plan of many other churches in Lombardy, e.g. S. Maria del Carmine and S. Francesco in Pavia. ”

“ In still more recent times Beccaria (1738–1794) as a jurist, Monti (1754–1828) as a poet and Manzoni (1785–1873) as a novelist, have won for the Milanese a high reputation.
The picture gallery of the Brera, one of the finest in Italy, occupies an imposing palace with a good courtyard by Ricchini. It was built as a Jesuit college in 1651, but since 1776 has been the seat of the Accademia di Belle Arti, and contains besides the picture gallery a library of some 300,000 volumes, a collection of coins numbering about 60,000, and an excellent observatory founded in 1766. ”

“ This was a democratic measure which marked the party to which the Torriani belonged and rendered them hateful to the nobility. Pagano died in 1241. His nephew Martino followed as podesta in 1256, and in 1259 as signore of Milan—the first time such a title was heard in Italy. The nobles, who had gathered round the Visconti, and who threatened to bring Ezzelino da Romano, the Ghibelline tyrant of Padua, into the city, were defeated by Martino, and 900 of their number were captured. ”

“ The interior with its two orders is a very fine one, and its influence on Renaissance architects has been very considerable. S. Eustorgio, one of the largest Gothic churches in Milan, with some Romanesque survivals, dates, as it stands, with its campanile, from the end of the 13th century, and has a modern façade in the old style. ”

“ In the tribune are fine mosaics of the 9th century, which, Burckhardt remarks, completely break with Byzantine tradition. In the side chapel of S. Satiro are even earlier mosaics (5th century) ; there are also fine frescoes by Borgognone and Bernardino Lanini. The lofty brick campanile (789–824) is among the earliest in Italy, and is decorated with coloured majolica disks. The court of the neighbouring canonica is by Bramante, and so also may be the design of the cloisters of the monastery of S. Ambrogio, now the military hospital. ”

“ Minor industries are represented by workshops for the production of surgical, musical and geodetic instruments; of telephone and telegraph accessories; dynamos, sewing-machines, bicycles and automobiles. ”