MILAN, mll'an or mi-lan', second city of Italy, the capital of the province of Milan, an archiepiscopal city on the Olona, about 90 miles by rail northeast of Turin. It is situated in a beautiful and fertile plain between the Adda and Ticino, which feed several canals, one of which, encircling a considerable portion of the interior of the city, divides it into two unequal parts. The town is built in the form of an ir regular polygon, and is surrounded, except on the castle side, by a wall or rampart called the Bastione, encircled on the outside by a fine road shaded by chestnut-trees. Suburbs have sprung up beyond this circuit, and the general railway station is also outside. The city is entered by 11 gates, several of which are magnificent. The streets leading from these gates are wide, well paved and lighted and traversed by electric street car lines; the lateral streets are less com modious. The houses are built mostly of brick, but have often a handsome and showy exterior. The principal street is the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, a prolongation of the new and hand some Corso Venezia, together leading from the cathedral to the Porta Venezia; other good streets are the Corso Porta Romana, Via Torino, Via Dante, etc. The chief square is the Piazza del Duomo, in which stands the Duomo or cathedral; and another is the Piazza della Scala. Besides fine public gardens (Giardini Pubblici) there is a large public park (Parco Nuovo) occupying an area that was long .a drill-ground, and was previously the site of the citadel and connected works. This has been finally laid out and planted, and an artificial lake and mound have been constructed. Adjoining these is an amphitheatre, capable of containing 30,000 spectators. The castle — recently re stored and now converted into a museum of art and antiquities— fronts the park on one side; at the opposite side is the Porta Sempione with the fine Arco Sempione or Arco della Pace, a triumphal arch of white marble.
Among the public edifices of Milan the first place belongs to the Duomo or cathedral, a magnificent structure, inferior in magnitude to Saint Peter's at Rome, but in some respects not an unworthy rival. It is built of white marble, and though exhibiting a somewhat incongruous mixture of styles, in which the ancient Gothic occasionally gives way to the modern Italian, is one of the most impressive ecclesiastical edi fices in the world. The Duomo in its ,present form was commenced in 1387, and is not yet entirely completed. Its form is that of a Latin cross, divided into five naves, terminated by an octagonal apsis, and supported by 52 octagonal pilasters of uniform size, except four, which, having to bear the cupola, are larger. It is 486 feet long, the tower is 356 feet high, it occupies an area of 14,000 square yards and can hold 40,000 people. Around the exterior are 4,500 niches, of which above 3,000 are already occu pied by statues; in the interior everything is of the most imposing and gorgeous description. Among the other remarkable edifices are the basilica of Sant' Ambrogio, founded by Saint Ambrose in 387, and though completely repaired in 1631, still retaining much of its original form and containing many relics of the ancient build ing embedded, in its walls; the churches of Sant' Eustorgio, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria della Grazie, with a cupola and sacristy by Bramante, and the celebrated 'Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci; Santa Maria della Pas sione, a majestic edifice, with excellent paint ings and a magnificent mausoleum; San Paolo; San Carlo Borromeo, etc. Among the palaces
are the Palazzo Reale or La Corte, adorned with numerous frescoes and surmounted by a lofty tower; the archiepiscopal palace, adjoin ing the cathedral; the Palazzo di Comando Mtlitare; the Palazzo Marino, now the Munici pio, a colossal structure; the Palazzo Ciani, completed in 1861, and adorned with heads of Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, etc.; and the Palazzo di Brera or Delle Scienze Lettere ed Arte, containing the Pinacoteca or picture gallery, with a very valuable collection of paint ings and statutary, and containing also the library of the Academy, 300,000 volumes. Be sides this library Milan possesses the Ambrosian Library, the earliest, and still one of the most valuable, public libraries in Europe. There is also a valuable museum of natural history and one recently founded, of theatrical relics, a world-famous conservatory of music, a mili tary college, a theological seminary, a veter inary school. The principal structure erected in recent times is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, a kind of covered street connecting the Piazza del Duomo with the Piazza of La Scala Theatre. It is 320 yards long, contains handsome shops and is adorned with 24 statues of celebrated Italians. Milan has a number of theatres; La Scala is the second largest theatre in Europe, and accommodates 3,600 spectators. The principal benevolent endowments are the Ospedale Maggiore (founded 1456), richly en dowed, and occupying a vast range of buildings in the Gothic style, with accommodation for 4,000 patients, and several other hospitals for the cure of diseases. Since it formed part of United Italy no town has more rapidly in creased in commercial and industrial activity and in population than Milan. The spinning and throwing of silk employ a large number of hands. Other important articles of manu facture are machinery, locomotives and rail way cars, automobiles, boilers, electrical ap paratus, tobacco, cotton, lace, carpets, hats, glass, earthenware, chemicals, white-lead, jew elry, etc. Besides these, corn, rice, cheese and wines are the principal articles of trade. The municipality is one of the most progressive in Europe; great street improvements have been carried out; there is an adequate street railway service giving communication with the neighboring communes; and, while there is still much overcrowding and congestion of population, the death rate has been greatly re duced. Milan is the see of an archbishop, the seat of courts of primary resort, criminal and mercantile courts, and a Court of Appeal for all Lombardy. 'The States is repre sented by a consul.