Highlights of Milan, Milan, Italy

Milan, a renowned Mecca of shopping and fashion, is rarely considered to be a sightseeing destination. That reputation is largely deserved, as even the most ardently patriotic locals are likely to agree that their city is not at all pretty. Impressive buildings pop up here or there, some residential streets are lined by fetching rows of houses, but sore spots and haphazardly incongruent architectural solutions abound. And yet, walk the central streets of Milan enough, and you will regularly come across eye-catching details. This opening shot is a good illustration: we are walking on Via Sant’Agnese towards Corso Magenta, to the left of us is an industrial-age department of Università Cattolica, to the right is some nondescript residential house, but in front of us is the lovely Baroque façade of Palazzo Litta.

This was our third visit to Milan - and the first at which we specifically budgeted time to get to know the city in some depth. Although it did not bowl us over exactly, it did offer a fair amount of highlights and points of interest.

These eight omenoni (“big men” in Milanese dialect) give name to both the 18th-century house they adorn and the entire street on which the house is located. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).