Milan—The True Capital of Italy?

In terms of business and industry, Milan is often considered the true capital of Italy. Compared with other Italian cities, it is not as well-known for antiquity and art. Here, the modern seems to dominate over the ancient. Nevertheless, Milan is home to some outstanding art and architecture that testify to an ancient past.

About 600 B.C.E., the region was settled by the Gauls, an ancient Celtic people from the area now known as France. In 222 B.C.E., the Romans conquered the city and gave it the Latinized name Mediolanum, now Milan. Through the centuries, the Italian peninsula has been a divided and conquered land, attaining independence only in the second half of the 19th century. So Milan was subject to an endless succession of invaders. Among those who occupied this area were the Lombards, probably originating in Scandinavia. They gave their name to Lombardy, the region of which Milan is capital.

Come Visit the City

The history of Milan, like that of the rest of Italy, is dominated by the Catholic Church. Little wonder, then, that the cathedral, or duomo, there is the third-largest church in Europe and one of the largest Gothic churches in the world. About 500 feet long, it bristles with spires and more than 3,000 statues and gargoyles. Construction began in 1385 and took five centuries to complete. Today when Italians speak of a job that is taking too long to complete, they say that it is like “building the cathedral.”

Bible readers will be interested to see God’s name, in the form “Jahve,” high up in a Gothic window of the cathedral facade. The exterior of the facade is decorated with numerous depictions of Bible episodes.

The Castello Sforzesco is one of the buildings that have become symbols of the city. It was built in the 15th century by the Sforza family, the lords of Milan. Today it houses a number of museums. One famous room contains frescoes that some say were painted by Leonardo da Vinci, the renowned artist and scientist.

Among da Vinci’s best-known paintings is a fresco in the 15th-century Renaissance convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. It depicts Jesus at what is commonly called the Last Supper and is judged one of the most famous of all Renaissance paintings. The Pinacoteca di Brera, another museum, has one of the largest Italian collections of paintings by such famous artists as Bellini, Raphael, Tintoretto, and Caravaggio.

Bible students will appreciate the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, which is a library and art gallery. There you can find the Muratorian Fragment, a Latin catalog of the Christian Greek Scriptures dating to the end of the second century C.E. It helps to confirm the composition of the “New Testament” canon.a

The same library contains a codex called Ambrosian O 39 sup., dated to the end of the ninth century C.E., which renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in square Hebrew characters, as mentioned in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References.b The library also possesses other ancient versions of the Bible, as well as the Atlantic Codex, a collection of more than 2,000 drawings and scientific notes made by Leonardo da Vinci.

A useful suggestion for visitors to remember is that many museums and libraries are housed in ancient buildings, splendid for their beauty, but easily filled to capacity by today’s ever-increasing flow of tourists. In many cases visits have to be booked in advance, and some museums set a time limit on visits.

Before leaving the old part of the city, music lovers might want to see the outside of La Scala, one of the most famous opera houses in the world. Even if the visitor cannot attend an opera, he might like to tour the museum, where many mementos of musicians and famous singers are on display.c

A tour of the modern part of Milan, one of the wealthiest cities in Europe, with its skyscrapers and sports stadium will provide you with an overview of the city. You will be able to appreciate the variety, beauty, and long history of Milan. Visitors who love shopping and sightseeing will want to visit the huge Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, with its superb glass ceiling and dome.

You’ll be glad you came to Milan! But now, let’s travel westward to visit an altogether different great city of Italy.

For a little over a year, the branch office representing Jehovah’s Witnesses in Italy was in Milan. It was moved to Rome in 1948. The first postwar assembly was held in a city theater in Milan in 1947. Some 700 from all parts of the country were present. In 1963 the “Everlasting Good News” International Assembly was held in Milan’s Vigorelli Velodrome, then perhaps the most famous cycling track in Europe.

The modern-day preaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses has met with great success in Milan. At present, there are 57 congregations in the city, with more than 4,000 active evangelizers, as well as an Assembly Hall in a converted city theater.

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Milan cathedral

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The modern seems to dominate over the ancient in Milan

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In Milan, La Scala (above) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (right)

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The “Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci

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Scala/Art Resource, NY