Milan is one of Italy’s largest cities, and is located in
the plains of Lombardy. It is one of the most highly developed urban centres
in all of Europe. Milan is well known as one of the world’s capitals
for design and fashion. The Lombard metropolis is quite famous for its
fashion shops and houses. Fashion designers, supermodels, and paparazzi
flock into Milan twice each year for the spring and fall fashion
fairs. The economic success of Milan was founded at the end of the
19th century, when metal and rubber industry moved in. Also, since the
1970s, Milan has been the capital of the automobile industry in
Italy.
During its history, Milan had to be rebuilt three times,
due to foreign invasion. The first attack came from the Goths in the 600s,
when Milan was under Celtic rule. The second attack was by Barbarossa
in 1157, and ultimately during World War II, more than one-fourth of Milan
was completely flattened. It has been a miracle that many of Milan’s
historic treasures are still in existence.
Understanding Milan’s layout is easier if viewed as a historic
nucleus around the Cathedral. There is a star shaped axis of arteries that
spread throughout the modern suburbs to the ring road. Milan’s modern
civic centre is in the northwest section of the city, around Mussolini’s
central station and is overshadowed by the Pirelli skyscraper, which was
one of the very first skyscrapers to be built in Italy. The Fiera district
lies to the west around the Porta Genova station and here you will find
the trade and fashion fairs taking place.
Milan is classified as having a humid subtropical climate,
which is a contrast to most of Italy’s cities. Winters in
Milan are damp and cold, and summers are very hot and humid. Snowfall
happen less and less, while Milan has been known to have up to 15
inches of snowfall each year, during the last two decades there has been
a drastic decrease in the snowfall amounts. Humidity is quite high throughout
the year. Normally temperatures are around -3 to +6 degrees Celsius during
the winter months, and 15 to 28 degrees Celsius during the hot summer months.
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