I.

Introduction

Milan (Italian Milano; ancient Mediolanum), city, northern Italy, capital of Milano Province and of Lombardy Region (Lombardia). The second largest Italian city in population (after Rome), it is a leading commercial, financial, and manufacturing center of Italy and a major center of intellectual and artistic life. Milan is mainly a modern city, surrounded by industrial suburbs. It has many tall apartment and office buildings in the business district and extensive residential and industrial sections. A subway system was opened in 1964. The principal square is the Piazza del Duomo, at one end of which stands the Duomo, or cathedral, a huge Gothic structure of white marble, begun in 1386 and completed in 1965. To the southwest of the Piazza del Duomo is the Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio (ad 386). Near the basilica is the 15th-century Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Adjacent to the church is a former Dominican monastery, in the refectory of which is the famous fresco Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci.