Cultural Heritage Research Journal

Buongiorno Italia or where To Find Beauty In Milan

by Arina Govorina

Since early childhood, I always knew that Italy is the best place to discover world heritage history and explore amazing culture. Later I found out that each part of this country in most cases has own traditions, architecture and even dialects. Being inspired by picturesque landscape of Amalfi coast, great history of Rome and romantic Venice, one day I booked tickets to Italy and randomly chose Milan.

The most famous and recognizable symbol of Milan is Duomo Cathedral. Located in the heart of Milan, Duomo attracts both local people and travellers. Construction work of Milan Cathedral lasted over six centuries and now everybody can explore the beauty of this place. This Gothic-style cathedral covered with white and pink marble has more than 3400 statues that decorate the building. Inside the cathedral everybody can see the elegant interior with sculpted marble columns and go to the rooftop terrace to enjoy an amazing panoramic view of Milan.

Duomo di Milano

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the other place that cannot be missed when you visit Milan. Being the oldest active shopping mall in Italy, this site became a favorite meeting point both for tourists and local people. Usually, people spend a lot of hours in Galleria admiring its magnificent arch, a stunning glass ceiling and eclectic luxury style.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Visited the top two Milanese sites, I could not find any more beautiful buildings. Google suggested me to take a train to Rome or just go shopping. I decided to stay in Milan and prove that it has more than two beautiful places. Who knows more about a city than a person who was born and bred there? Local people like to say that Milan is the brain of Italy. It is responsible for economics, business and money issues, not beauty. That’s why sometimes the city seems gray and even gloomy and does not have many cultural heritage sites. The best example of it can be Torre Velasca, a skyscraper known as one of the world ugliest buildings according to opinion of architects. Despite its terrible exterior, Torre Velasca is an expensive place to live in (the famous Milanese joke: you have to pay a lot of money to live in Torre Velasca because only here you can enjoy the city view without seeing this building).

Torre Velasca

Probably, Milan is not the best place to explore the diversity of Italian culture and heritage. But here you still can find something interesting and even attractive. Sometimes beauty does not mean great architecture, picturesque natural sites or famous historical places. If you try, you will find beauty in small urban details from window decoration to old bicycles in the central park.  

Milanese atmosphere 

Have you ever been to Italy? What places and why would you recommend to visit?