Milan

/mi lan", -lahn"/, n.

an industrial city in central Lombardy, in N Italy: cathedral. 1,710,263. Italian, Milano /mee lah"naw/.

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Italian Milano

Capital (pop., 2001 prelim.: 1,182,693), Lombardy region, northern Italy.

The area was settled by the Gauls с 600 BC. Known as Mediolanum, it was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC. Attacked in AD 452 by Attila and in 539 by the Goths, it fell to Charlemagne in 774. Milan's power grew in the 11th century, but it was destroyed by the Holy Roman Empire in 1162. Rebuilt as part of the Lombard League in 1167, Milan achieved independence in 1183. In 1450 Francesco Sforza founded a new dynasty there; after 1499 it was ruled alternately by the French and the Sforza family until 1535, when the Habsburgs obtained it. Napoleon took power in 1796, and in 1805 it became the capital of his kingdom of Italy. It was incorporated into unified Italy in 1860. Milan was heavily damaged during World War II but was rebuilt. It is Italy's most important economic centre, with industrial development and textile manufacturing. It is noted for its fashion industry and production of electronic goods and is also Italy's financial centre. Its historic sites include the medieval Duomo, Europe's third largest cathedral; the Palazzo di Brera (1651); the 15th-century monastery that houses Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper; and La Scala opera house.

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▪ Italy

Introduction

Italian  Milano 

 city, capital of Milan province and of Lombardy region (Lombardia), northern Italy. It is the leading financial centre and the most prosperous manufacturing and commercial city of Italy.

      The destiny of Milan, like that of many of the world's great cities, remains something of a historical paradox. There are powerful factors supporting the argument that Milan should have become the capital of a unified Italy, and this is the belief of many Milanese, in spite of the fact that the unity of Italy was actually born in Turin, rather than in Milan, in 1870. Milan, nevertheless, is the most industrious and vital city to have achieved prominence since the ancient land of Italy became aware of itself as a modern nation.

Physical and human geography

Character of the city

      Contemporary Milan is the richest city of Italy and one of the richest of Europe, so far as money is concerned. When the Milanese assert that Milan is the moral capital of Italy they not only express the ancient regionalism typical of all Italy and known as Campanilismo (a reference to the church bell of each city) but they also refer to something intangible and yet authentic, for they are speaking of quality and values, historical as well as contemporary. And if the rest of Italy, Rome included, accepts this statement, or rather accepts the fact that the statement is made, it is because it is more than a simple claim. The claim is justified by contributions in every field—economic, cultural, and ideological—that the city of Milan, in modern times, and particularly since the unification of Italy, has made to the Italian nation. These contributions greatly exceed, even on a statistical basis, those made by all other Italian cities. When one remembers that in the 19th century a writer such as Stendhal, one of the giants of French culture, wished to proclaim himself “Milanese” in his epitaph, one must indeed believe in the fascination Milan exerted then, and still does, and of which the city is fully conscious. The fact that Milan is at a distance from much of the rest of Italy, that it is peripheral in a geographic sense, does not explain its position of second city, a position it has always pathetically and vainly fought. Some of the greatest European capitals are peripheral in this sense.

      This role was the consequence of the immense historical importance and the enormous accumulation of myths and symbols that conferred on Milan's antagonist, Rome, an inevitable prestige; Rome became the heart of a future anticipated in the collective fantasies of the Italian people. This character is fundamental, because a capital is not simply the centre of a government or of administrative offices. In the 19th century Milan was the most European among Italian cities, but it was not strong enough to become the centre of Europe.

      It was not by chance that Milan expressed its ideological greatness in the person of a poet, Carlo Porta (1776–1821). Porta wrote in the Milanese dialect and in so doing risked obscurity, both in his own country and abroad; but he was eager to give of his utmost self, aware that the use of Milanese coincided with the finest aspirations of his fellow citizens over the preceding century. Rome absorbed the values and language of a renascent Florence and integrated them throughout the centuries, as modern Rome demonstrates. In Rome, cinematography, which could never take root in Milan, in spite of numerous attempts, employs the mystery of the physiognomy and of the light of the city to recreate those classic elements, which, in Italy, may be called antique. This Milan cannot do. The majority of its intellectuals, writers, and artists, at least until the end of the post-World War II era, abandoned the city for Rome. Milan thus remained essentially an economic centre, succeeding, however—alone among Italian cities—in keeping alive an inquisitiveness and a spirit of polemic that involved not only these two cities but all the others in Italy as well. The increased importance of the mass media in Italy, particularly of the Milan-based television networks, has favoured the Milanese perspective; this has not, however, damaged the poetic image of Rome nor reduced the prosaic character of Milan.

The landscape

Site

      Milan is set in the heart of the Po Basin (Po River) of northern Italy, halfway across the immense plain spreading between the Ticino and Adda rivers. The site is 400 feet (122 metres) above sea level. To the north lies the great sweep of the southern flank of the Alps. Between this semicircle of mountains and the course traced by the Po River to the south, there lies a zone that is arid toward the north, but swampy near the Po, where it turns into an expanse of marshy groves and rice fields. It is at the line of demarcation between these two areas, which are strongly differentiated, that Milan has risen, although now only swamplands mark the site of the ancient city. The earliest inhabitants reinforced their defenses by means of the small watercourses of the Sèveso, the Nirone, the Lambro, and the Olona.

Climate

      Milan's climate is continental, with damp, chilly winters and hot, humid summers. Snow falls between December and February, and springtime is generally rainy. In winter temperatures range between 30° and 50° F (−1° and 10° C) and in summer between 68° and 86° F (20° and 30° C). Characteristic of the Po Basin, the city is often shrouded in fog; the removal of rice fields from the southern neighbourhoods has reduced the phenomenon, but this has been offset somewhat by the growth of an almost uninterrupted built-up area around the city that reduces local air circulation.

The city plan

      Each period of historical crisis, advance, and consolidation has been reflected in the organic structure of Milan. For a thousand years the core of the city was located just southwest of the present cathedral, the Duomo, and was made up of the rectangular, four-gated city of Mediolanum, with roads thrusting out from each gate to the surrounding countryside, together with an irregular outer defense consolidated in Carolingian times. This core has influenced the city plan down to modern times. The period of dynastic struggle and the imposition of transalpine authority brought further changes. After the city was razed in 1162, an enlarged oval was constructed, the course of its outer walls still traceable in contemporary streets. Spanish domination brought the erection of still another outer ring resulting from the 16th-century reconstructions. This, too, can be traced in contemporary boulevards. Within the city centre, the main focus of activity centred on the Castello Sforzesco (Sforzesco Castle), a product of the 15th-century dynastic struggles, reinforced by the Spanish in the following century; the Piazza Mercanti, the centre of medieval economic activity; and the great Piazza del Duomo, laid out before the cathedral in 1489. Castle, cathedral, and a newer commercial area centred on the Piazza Cordusio, representatives of the motivating forces in Milanese life, dominate the modern city centre.

      Several times since the late 19th century city planners (urban planning) have laid down the basis of a more organic plan, bypassing the traditional radial street plan, so that new districts might have wide streets and avenues intersecting at right angles. The centres of the newer suburban areas—Bollate, Novate Milanese, Cusano Milanino, Cinisello Balsamo, Sesto San Giovanni, and even Monza (nine miles [15 kilometres] away to the northeast)—are linked to the core of the ancient city by major arteries. Entire industrial districts have developed, particularly in the north and northeast and in the south and southwest. Unfortunately, while the periphery has been amply developed, the central nucleus has not benefited from a similar transformation, and the narrowness of the streets and squares creates problems for modern traffic. Since the end of World War II, practically all industrial growth has been concentrated in peripheral areas of the city. Industrial progress has reached such a level that a third of Milan's population is in some way connected with industrial construction. Heavy industries are concentrated outside the city boundaries, around Sesto San Giovanni. Since 1950 the city centre has fared badly under the influence of industrialization, with many old streets and buildings replaced haphazardly by massive blocks and skyscrapers containing apartments and offices. The Pirelli Building (1955–59), near the Stazione Centrale (“Central Station”), and the Olivetti Building in Via Clerici are among the few modern structures of architectural note.

The people

      Milan's population has shown a rapid increase since World War II. This increase has been due mainly to the flood of immigrants from the impoverished Italian south seeking improved conditions in the factories of the industrial north. Population pressure has resulted in the growth of slums and such shantytowns as Brianza, as well as in an expansion of the city itself. Milan has pressed outward into the surrounding countryside with renewed vigour, particularly to the northeast, toward Crescenzago, and to the south, toward Rogoredo and Vigentino. Milan's enormous urban expansion has contributed to its economic growth.

The economy

Industry

      Milan, the most important economic centre of Italy, owes this fact to its geographical position. It is located at the centre of the traffic routes of the Val Padana and lies on the borderline between the advanced agriculture of the fertile irrigated plains to the south and the limited agriculture of the north. In addition, it is backed by an impressive industrial development. Milan's rich and extremely populous surroundings, differing from those of other large Italian manufacturing centres, increase the city's economic importance and potential for expansion. An extensive network of road and rail communications spreads toward the outlying areas and particularly toward the north, giving the city an economic advantage that other Italian cities do not possess.

      The mechanical industries predominate; the production of automobiles, airplanes, motorcycles, major electric appliances, railroad materials, and other metalworking accounts for almost half of the work force. Textile manufactures (cotton, hemp, silk, and artificial fibres) are situated in the province of Milan, while in the city itself manufactures of ready-made clothing and designer fashions predominate. Milan's fashion industry has achieved great commercial importance, and the city contains the salons of some of the world's best known designers. Chemical production is also considerable. Besides large quantities of medicinal products, dyes, soaps, and acids are also manufactured. Also noteworthy to the city economy are graphic arts and publishing, as well as food, wood, paper, and rubber products. Milan's position as the electronic media centre of Italy has been augmented by the rapid growth of high-technology industries, including data processing and telecommunications.

Commerce

      Commercial activity in the city has also been stimulated by industrial development. The largest wholesale markets of Italy are in Milan. Of greatest importance are the export trades, which include artificial fibres, cotton and wool goods, chemical products, and machinery. This enormous economic complex has benefited from the efficiency of the city's banks and of its stock market, which is the largest in Italy. Milan is the principal centre of exchange in Italy; every April the city hosts the International Sample Trade Fair (in Italy called Fiera Campionaria de Milano), which ranks as one of the major trade exhibitions in Europe.

Transportation

      In addition to being a centre of production and exchange, Milan is also a national focus of transportation. The state-run railroads are integrated within the city landscape by means of a carefully designed and executed plan. The vast Piazza della Repubblica, for example, which contains the Pirelli Building and other tall buildings, is located on land formerly occupied by a railway station. Trade goods are sent and received at the Stazione Lambrate-Ortica. Two other stations serve for the transportation of passengers, five more for various kinds of merchandise. The largest railway loading site is the Stazione Centrale. Transalpine tunnels and other mainline connections link Milan with all parts of Europe, and there are many nonstop trains to and from major cities. The road network converging upon Milan is also important, carrying, as it does, an unceasing flow of foreign and domestic tourists. Besides being the focus of a number of major highways, Milan is also the starting point for the famous scenic route known as the Autostrada del Sole, which traverses the spine of the lengthy Italian peninsula. The metropolitan transportation service operates an extensive system of bus, tramway, and subway routes throughout the metropolitan area.

Administration and social conditions

Government

      The city, technically the commune of Milan, capital of the province (provincia) of the same name and of the Lombardy Region (Lombardy) (regione), is under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Italy. The government of the Italian state is composed of a central administration and of a peripheral or local administrative system, the latter having limited jurisdiction over a particular region. The most important division of the peripheral system is the prefecture (prefettura), at the head of which is the prefect, the highest authority of the executive power in the province of Milan. It supervises the activities of public administration. In its own area, the province performs the important functions of regulating health, sanitation, public works, welfare, education, agriculture, and commerce. The province of Milan, as all other Italian provinces, has a vice prefect, a counselor of prefecture, and an administrative and provincial assembly whose members, as well as its president, are selected by the prefect. The commune of Milan is administered by a council, chosen from a large assembly, and a mayor (sindaco). In the administrative elections of the communal council all electors registered in the province take part. The assembly and the mayor are elected by the communal council. The mayor is the head of the communal administration and represents the central government of the Republic of Italy. Mayoral responsibilities include performing marriage ceremonies, registering births and deaths, and maintaining safety and order on behalf of each citizen.

      The region and regional council, instituted in the early 1970s, are constituted as autonomous entities and have various prerogatives. Among these are the right to promulgate laws on matters related to the city so long as they do not infringe upon the national interest or the interest of other Italian regions. The regional authorities are the regional council, the assembly, and the president of the assembly. In the commune of Milan, the conciliation judge presides. The city is also divided into 20 zones, each of which has a council that can address matters of local concern.

Services

      The central post office functions 24 hours per day. The city maintains a large, well-staffed streets and sanitation department, which endeavours to maintain both the cleanliness of the city and the health of its citizens. This task is made difficult, however, by overcrowding and poor housing conditions in some sectors. Health-care facilities are nonetheless generally good, and the city has a large network of publicly and privately run hospitals and clinics, as well as research facilities.

Cultural life

      The most striking of the monuments to be seen in contemporary Milan is the Duomo, a triumph of Gothic architecture; it is the third largest church of contemporary Europe, holding more than 20,000 people. Begun in 1386, it took five centuries to complete and rises over the area occupied at one time by the churches of Sta. Tecla and Sta. Maria Maggiore. The most imposing parts of the Duomo are its lateral aspects, its two top crosses, and the apse. In the latter, a powerful impression is made by the three immense Gothic windows of finely carved marble. The casing, of pink-tinged Italian marble, is to be found on all sides of the structure. At the lower level, it lends character to the small trilobate arches, capitals, and flowers; it also appears on the buttresses and, above them, runs along the crowning row of gigantic statues; above these, it covers the decorated water gutters and, finally, enhances the lacelike ornamental crest. The exterior of the cathedral is covered with a remarkable profusion of turrets, pinnacles, and more than 3,000 statues. Within are 52 pillars, each over 80 feet tall and more than 10 feet in diameter and bearing, instead of capitals, a crown of statues within their niches.

      The most notable of the city's many palaces is the Palazzo di Brera, construction of which dates from 1651. Its architect, Francesco Maria Ricchino, infused the whole Milanese Baroque with his severe style. The Pinacoteca di Brera (Brera, Pinacoteca di), one of the largest art galleries in Italy, contains a fine collection of north Italian painting. The building also contains the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, and its beautiful courtyard is dominated by Antonio Canova's statue of Napoleon. On the Corso Garibaldi stands S. Simpliciano, which according to tradition was founded in the 4th century by St. Ambrose. Its apse contains the 15th-century fresco “Coronation of the Virgin” by Ambrogio Bergognone. Other notable churches in the central area include S. Satiro, S. Eustorgio, S. Lorenzo Maggiore, and S. Babila. In Via Monte Napoleone, there are several handsome palaces, including the Bagatti-Valsecchi palaces. Leonardo da Vinci's fresco the “Last Supper,” one of the most famous paintings of the Renaissance, is located in the former refectory of the Dominican monastery of Sta. Maria delle Grazie. Beyond the Piazza Cavour (which contains a monument to the great Italian statesman for whom it is named as well as the imposing and ultramodern Centro Svizzero [“Swiss Centre”]) lie the public gardens, in which the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale (Museum of Natural History) stands. One of its most interesting exhibits is the Turati ornithological collection. The former Villa Reale, now the Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, is also nearby.

      The Biblioteca Ambrosiana (founded 1609) and the Biblioteca Comunale are also of significance. Other excellent libraries are found in the universities and in the philological clubs of the Instituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere, as well as in the Donati Foundation. The Archivio di Stato also contains an imposing collection. Milan is the seat of three universities: the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (1920), one of the best Roman Catholic schools in Italy; the state-run Università degli Studi (1923); and the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (1902). Other institutions of higher education include the Instituto di Ingegneria Nucleare, Centro di Studi Nucleari Enrico Fermi, and the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppi Verdi.

      Milan's Teatro alla Scala (La Scala) (popularly called La Scala), constructed 1776–78 by the leading Neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini, is one of the great theatres of the world. (Piermarini, incidentally, designed the Corso di Porta Romana, the first paved street of modern Europe.) The city also contains several other theatres, including the Lirica, the Odeon, and the Stabile, which is the home of one of Italy's major theatrical companies. There are also numerous motion-picture houses.

      Sections of a network of communication and transportation canals, the Navigli, constructed in the 16th century, remain, especially in the southern part of the city. In the summer a tour boat makes trips on the canals between Porta Ticinese and the Po, passing by country estates that were built from the 16th to the 19th century for Milanese nobles.

      Milan is the leading sports centre of Italy. Many of the facilities are located in San Siro, on the northwestern edge of the city. The Palazzo dello Sport is a splendid example of recreational architecture. The Ippodromo del Gallopo, a large horse-racing arena, is one of the best in Europe. The Mirabello course is also excellent. In addition, San Siro has a fine football (soccer) stadium, a civic arena, and numerous other fields for various sports, among which the modern Vigorelli, for cycling races, is well known. The Lago Idroscalo, an artificial lake next to Linate airport, is also a popular recreation area. The Grand Prix automobile-racing circuit at nearby Monza has an international reputation.

History

The early period

Foundation and early growth

      The earliest settlement on the site of Milan was founded by the Gauls about the year 600 BC, and in ensuing centuries it became the capital of a Celtic tribe known as the Insubres. At the time of the Roman conquest, 222 BC, Mediolanum, as it was then called, was already one of the most powerful cities of the region on the Roman side of the Alps known as Cisalpine Gaul. Under the emperor Augustus, it became a part of the 11th region of Italy, acquiring increasing prestige and economic power until it became the second city of the Western Roman Empire behind Rome itself. In the 3rd century AD, following the partition of the empire instituted by the emperor Diocletian, it was assigned as residence and main administrative centre for one of the two emperors. The emperor Constantine the Great declared it the seat of the Vicar of Italy. In the year 452, Attila the Hun devastated the city, and in 539 the Goths destroyed it. The city, however, did not entirely perish as a result of these barbarian incursions, and by the second half of the 10th century city life was surging with renewed vigour. Under the Carolingians (the region was incorporated into the dominions of Charlemagne in 774), life in Milan showed increased vitality, particularly through the efforts of Archbishop Ansperto da Biassono, who rebuilt and strengthened the fallen walls of the city in the late 9th century. Under Ariberto da Antimiano (1018–45), the political power of the archbishopric reached its apogee. This assumption of temporal power by the archbishops, dating from about 1000, can be considered as the origin of the subsequent greatness of Milan.

      In 1045, however, as a result of tensions engendered by the authority of the archbishops and because of the increasing growth and stability of the city as a whole, Milan constituted itself as a commune (comune), with permanent and autonomous governmental structures. In the resultant struggle for primacy among the cities of Lombardy, Milan became involved in a series of long battles against its less prosperous neighbours—Pavia, Cremona, Como, and Lodi. In 1111 the Milanese razed Lodi, and, after a bitter struggle lasting from 1118 to 1127, Como was destroyed. This was the pretext for the intervention of Frederick I Barbarossa, who decided to bring Milan under the direct authority of the central imperial power of his Holy Roman Empire. The city held out until 1162, when it yielded after a nine-month siege. Its fortifications were then razed, and the destruction of the city was such that the Milanese were forced to seek refuge in the surrounding countryside. The war blazed on until 1183, the year of the Peace of Constance, although Milan, rebuilt in 1167 under the auspices of the newly founded Lombard League, succeeded in playing a major role in the defeat of the German forces of Barbarossa at the Battle of Legnano in 1176. Its privileges rewon, the city attained a splendid economic florescence over the next 100 years.

Feudal conflicts

      In the early years of the 12th century, however, the new industrial classes, in particular the guilds of the woolens and armaments workers, increased constantly in power and influence. The feudal nature of the relationship between the archbishop and his allies meant that the archbishop had to make enormous concessions to the emergent social and political forces among the citizenry in order to reinforce his own party, diminishing thereby the financial privileges of the church. Following the worsening of the relationship with Frederick II of Swabia, the Milanese proclaimed Pagano della Torre, a member of a family emerging as leaders of the less feudal of the city's power groupings, as their protector. The city forces were nevertheless defeated by the Emperor in the Battle of Cortenuova (1237). In the shadow of the subsequent struggle between the Torriani family and another powerful Milanese family, the Viscontis, the Signorial era was born. The Torrianis, leaders of the new popular forces, took the name of Guelfs (Guelf and Ghibelline); the Viscontis (Visconti Family), followed by the aristocracy, headed the Ghibelline faction.

      In 1277 Ottone Visconti, archbishop of Milan, utterly defeated the enemy in the Battle of Desio. His nephew Matteo succeeded him, and, starting in 1311, Matteo and his heirs reigned as supreme lords of the city and of the surrounding state, replacing the political forms of the commune. Under this lordship, or signoria, the industrial and mercantile economy underwent rapid development, giving birth to further powerful coalitions of economic interests. But in 1450, Milan found itself besieged again. Francesco Sforza (Sforza, Francesco) (1401–66), a ruthless and ambitious general, occupied the city and founded a new dynasty, basing his claim on his marriage to an illegitimate daughter of one of the Viscontis. A period of prosperity then began for Milan, based on the power of the Sforzas (Sforza Family) and the introduction of the silk industry. It was the golden period of the Italian Renaissance, typified by the splendour of the Sforza court.

      The dynasty of the Sforzas, however, had but a short-lived enjoyment of power. In 1499 the Duchy of Milan fell into the hands of Louis XII, king of France, who was also a distant descendant of the Viscontis. In 1500 Ludovico Sforza (also called Il Moro) conquered the state but was defeated at Novara in the same year. The French continued to rule until 1513, at which point they were overthrown by Massimiliano Sforza, son of Il Moro, who had Swiss assistance. Francis I, successor to Louis XII, reconquered Milan in his renowned victory of Marignano (now Melegnano) in 1515. In accordance with the conditions of a peace treaty signed in 1529, Milan was once more returned to the Sforzas.

Evolution of the modern city

      In 1535 the incumbent duke died unexpectedly, and Milan and the entire Milanese state fell under the domination of the Habsburg emperor Charles V, who in 1540 invested his son—the future Philip II of Spain—with the duchy. Under Spanish rule—which was to last until 1706—the political and artistic elite of Milan rapidly succumbed. The dramatic period of dynastic struggle, which was also a period of economic growth, was to be replaced by a long period of economic stagnation and political decline associated with unimaginative foreign rule. In 1630 the city was struck by the great plague. This catastrophe was to be vividly portrayed by the local author Alessandro Manzoni (Manzoni, Alessandro) (1785–1873) in his I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), a historical novel that is one of the finest artistic achievements of Italian and indeed European literature. The end of the desolation and squalor of the period of Spanish domination began with the outbreak, in 1701, of the War of the Spanish Succession, following the death of Charles II of Spain. In September 1706 Prince Eugene of Savoy entered Milan as its first Austrian governor, and the city passed thus from Spanish to Austrian rule. Although the first half of the 18th century was marked by neglect and oppression, after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), the new rulers, in collaboration with the wealthy commercial classes of Milan, were able to foster a half-century of enlightened, if despotic, growth. This was particularly marked in the cultural domain. It is during this period that such figures as Cesare Beccaria, the outstanding criminologist and economist, and Pietro Verri, the gifted administrator and man of letters, were active. These and other members of a Milanese group known as the Società dei Pugni accepted the innovations of the theoreticians of the French Revolution, and this in spite of Austrian censorship. Neoclassical architecture also flourished. When, on May 15, 1796, the republican army of France, with Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I) at its head, entered Milan, it was greeted enthusiastically, particularly by the middle classes. In 1797 the constitution of a Cisalpine Republic was promulgated. In 1805 Milan became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, under Napoleon, who was crowned in the city. A true awakening then occurred in the consciousness of the Milanese people, as their city prospered from its domination of most of the Italian peninsula.

      These hopes were dashed, however, by the invasion and reestablishment of Austrian authority that followed the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire in 1814 and the Congress of Vienna the following year. This alien control of the new Lombardo-Veneto kingdom was to remain for nearly 50 years. Influenced by the new currents of Italian unity and nationalism known as the Risorgimento and smarting under the oppressive Austrian rule, the citizenry finally rose up in the “Cinque Giornate,” the five days of March 18–22, 1848. In what has become one of the most celebrated episodes of the city's history, Milan was liberated from the Austrians for several months until the rebellion was finally brought under control. In spite of the fact that by Aug. 6, 1848, the brutal occupation forces of the aging Austrian commander Joseph Radetzky were once more in firm control of Milan, resistance forces of the city decided to continue their opposition to the invaders. Young men crossed the borders of Piedmont and Sardinia to enter the city's army. It remained for the second War of Italian Independence to finally liberate Milan from foreign control, and a few days after the Battle of Magenta (June 4, 1859), the people of Milan witnessed the triumphant entry of the two allies, Victor Emmanuel II and Napoleon III. The city—by now in the throes of an industrial revolution emphasizing metal products—was henceforth to be linked with the fate of the new Italian state, maintaining itself in a position of prime importance in the national economy. It also shared in the political development of the nation: on March 23, 1919, the formation of militant right-wing groups in the city marked the dawn of Fascism. Intense efforts at reconstruction healed the wounds of World War II, when the city suffered grave damage from intensive Allied bombing. The social and economic conflict that marked much of the city's development after the war found expression in the existence of a strong and aggressive Communist Party, whose influence continued unabated from the immediate postwar period through the ensuing decades of relative affluence.

Additional Reading

For descriptions of the modern city, see Federico Elmo (ed.), Milan and Its Environs (1955); Emidio Bissi, Milan: An Artistic and Illustrated Guide-Book (1958); and Carlo Ripa Di Meana (ed.), Tutta Milano: Tourist Guide (1973). For architecture, see Carlo Romussi, Milano ne' suoi monumenti, 3rd ed., 2 vol. (1912–13); Nancy A. Houghton Brown, The Milanese Architecture of Galeazzo Alessi, 2 vol. (1982), concentrating on Renaissance architecture; and Giacomo C. Bascapè, Luigi Medici, and Ulderico Tegani, Vecchia e nuova Milano (1980); and Yukio Futagawa (ed.), Carlo Aymonino, Aldo Rossi: Housing Complex at the Gallaratese Quarter, Milan, Italy 1969–1974 (1977), both of which provide views of modern architectural developments. City planning is addressed in Maurizio Boriani et al., La construzione della Milano moderna (1982); and Patrizia Gabellini, Corinna Morandi, and Paola Vidulli (eds.), Urbanistica a Milano, 1945–1980 (1980). Giorgio Lotti and Raul Radice, La Scala (1979; originally published in Italian, 1977), describes this cultural and historical landmark. Social and economic conditions of the contemporary city are studied in Two Cultures, Two Cities (1977), the proceedings of a symposium held in Toronto in 1976; and in John R. Low-Beer, Protest and Participation: The New Working Class in Italy (1978). The Storia di Milano, published by the Fondazione Treccani degli Alfieri, 16 vol. (1953–62), is the fullest historical account; but Giorgio Giulini, Memorie spettanti alla storia di Milano, new ed., 7 vol. (1854–57), is still useful for the Middle Ages. Ella Noyes, The Story of Milan (1908, reprinted 1921), which provides an introductory account in English, focuses on the medieval town. Later historical sources include Franco Fava, Storia di Milano, 3 vol. (1980–82); and Richard Krautheimer, Three Christian Capitals: Topography and Politics (1983).Alberto Lecco

▪ Ohio, United States

      village, Erie and Huron counties, northern Ohio, U.S., on the Huron River, about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Sandusky. In 1804 Moravian missionaries established an Indian village called Pequotting on the site. Settlers from Connecticut arrived a few years later, and the village was laid out in 1816 by Ebenezer Merry and named for Milan, Italy. A canal was dug (1832–39) connecting the village to Lake Erie via the Huron River, and the community became a busy wheat-shipping and shipbuilding centre. The village's refusal, however, to allow the Lake Shore and Michigan Railroad a right-of-way marked its decline as a commercial centre. Milan, now a quiet, rustic community, is the birthplace of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison (Edison, Thomas Alva) (1847); the redbrick house on Edison Drive where he spent the first seven years of his life is preserved as a museum. The Milan Historical Museum is a complex of buildings including the Sayles House (1843), a blacksmith's shop, and a doll and toy museum. A scenic bicycle path now runs along the former canal route and connects Milan with the town of Huron. Pop. (2000) 1,445; (2005 est.) 1,381.

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