MIL'AN ataL Milano), the chief city of Lombardy, stands on the river Olona, in the center of the great plain of Lombardy. Pop. (1872) of city, 199,009; of surrounding dis trict, called Cforpi Santi, 62,976. From its position on the line of the chief routes of the central Alps it derives great commercial advantages, while its fine canal system opens for it communication with the principal rivers of Italy. The Natiglio Grande, or Grand canal, connects Milan with the Ticino, and the Martesana canal with the Adda. The city, which is almost circular, is encompassed on three sides by walls and low ramparts; it has a circuit of about 71 m., and is entered by 10 gates. Notwith standing its great antiquity, Milan possesses but few remains of its early splendid struc tures, !ri consequence of the many calamitous wars by which it has been ravaged. Mod ern Milan. is one of the most opulent and populous cities of Italy; its best streets are regular, wide, and well paved, and kept with scrupulous care; the dwellings are commo dious and tasteful, though of a less imposing character than the great feudal Tuscan houses. 31ilan abounds in churches worthy of note: of these the principal is the famous Gothic cathedral, the Duorao, which, with the exception of St. Peter's in Rome, is the most magnificent ecclesiastical structure in Italy. It has a facade of white Carrara marble, and is adorned by 106 pinnacles and 4,500 statues, besides a variety of carvings of unsurpassable beauty. In form it is a Latin cross, with a length of 485, and a breadth of 252 ft. The height of the dome is 355 ft. Its foundation was laid in 1386 by Gian Galcazzo Visconti, and during its erection many of the greatest European architects con tributed designs for its embellishment. Within it Napoleon' was crowned king of Italy in 1805. Besides the Duomo rnay be mentioned the church of St. Ambrose (founded by that saint in the 4th c.), the most ancient in Milan, containing inscriptions, sar cophagi, and monuments full of autiquarian interest, and the one in which the German emperors were crowned kings of Italy; the Dombaican church of Santa Maria delle Groxie, which contains in its refectory the famous " Cenacolo," or "Last Supper," by Leonardo da Vinci; and that of San Carlo Borromeo (1847); of St. Nazaro, which pos sesses several masterpieces of the best schools of Italian art; and of St. Sebastiano, once a Roman temple.
Among the secular buildings of Milan, the most noteworthy is the magnificent Brera palace, formerly a Jesuit college, and now used for public schools of the tine arts, with the official name of Palace of Arts and Sciences. Within its vast precincts this unique institution includes an academy of art, a choice gallery of paintings of the Bolognese and Lomband schools, a fine collection of casts for modeling purposes, a splendid public library, containing 140,000 volumes, and a rare collection of manuscripts, medals, and antiquities; it has also attached to it an observatory and a botanical garden. Besides
the Ambrosian (q.v.), there are several large private libraries. Among the scientific and artistic institutions of Milan are the museum of natural history, the schools of surgery and medicine, especially that of veterinary practice, the celebrated conservatory or school of music, and a military geographical institute, well known for the excellence of the maps it has issued. The educational establishments include four gymnasia, besides normal schools, technical schools, conventual schools, and a seminary. The charitable institutions are numerous and splendidly endowed, having an aggregate property of upwards of £7,000,000 sterling; the Ospedale Maggiore, or Great Hospital, founded by the ducal house of Sforza in 1456, accommodates 2,000 patients, and annually admits upwards of 20,000. The Trivulzi hospital, endowed by the Trivulzio family, maintains and clothes 600 aged pensioners. The Milanese places of amusement are on as grand a scale as the other public buildings of the city, the first in point of celebrity being the theater of La Scala, which can accommodate 3,600 spectators. The Corso, or chief street of Milan, is the universal fashionable promenade of the inhabitants; and the famous arcade, or Galleria di Cristoforis, with its brilliant shops and cafes, is also a favorite place of evening resort, and on account of its gay appearance has been called "Little Paris." Milan carries on an immense inland trade in silk, grain, rice, and cheese, and has con siderable manufactures of silk goods, ribbons, cutlery, and porcelain. .
Milan (Lat. Mediolanum) was orig,inally a t. or village of the Insubrian Gauls. It was conquered by the Romans 222 ic.c., received the Latin franchise about 89 B.c., and the full Roman franchise 49 n.c. Under the Romans it be; ame a conspicuous center of -wealth and civic influence; its citizens were noted for their refined manners and literary tastes, and the public buildings for their beauty and elegance. In the egiuning of the 4th c. it was selected as the residence of the imperial court by Maximian. Milan wits sacked bv the Huns (under Attila) in 452, by the Goths (under the brother of Vitiges) 539, and-passed to the Longobards and Franks previous to its subjection by the German empire. After 961 it was long governed by dukes in the name of the emperors. .The feuds of the Guelphs and Ghibellines distracted Milan, like all the other Italian cities. Supreme power became eventually vested in the Ghibelline Visconti, by whom the ascendency of Milan was extended over the whole of Lombardy. From 1545 to 1714 3filan submitted to the successive predominance of Fnince and Austria. Under Bona parte it was declared the capital of the Cisalpine republic, or the Italian republic, and, finally of the kingdom of Italy. In 1815 Milan WEIS restored to Austria, and continued the capital of the Austro-Italian kingdom until the annexation of Lombardy to Pied niont, in 1850, by the peace of Villafranca