Crossword Dictionary

MILAN 

Milan, Italian Milano, city, capital of Milano province (provincia) and of the region (regione) of Lombardy (Lombardia), northern Italy. It is the chief financial centre and the most prosperous manufacturing and commercial city of Italy. 

The destiny of Milan, like that of many of the world’s great cities, remains something of a historical paradox. There are powerful factors supporting the argument that Milan should have become the capital of a unified Italy, and this is the belief of many Milanese, in spite of the fact that the unity of Italy was actually born in Turin, rather than in Milan, in 1870. Milan, nevertheless, is the most industrious and vital city to have achieved prominence since the ancient land of Italy became aware of itself as a modern nation-state. Area city, 70 square miles (182 square km); province, 765 square miles (1,980 square km). 

Each period of historical crisis, advance, and consolidation has been reflected in the organic structure of Milan. For a thousand years the core of the city was located just southwest of the present cathedral, the Duomo, and was made up of the rectangular, four-gated city of Mediolanum, with roads thrusting out from each gate to the surrounding countryside, together with an irregular outer defense consolidated in Carolingian times (8th–9th century). This core has influenced the city plan down to modern times.

Milan also sits on the main route connecting Italy with the rest of Europe. Industrial development in the 20th century further stimulated commercial activity in the city. Of great importance was the export trade; Milanese exports have included artificial fibres, cotton and wool goods, chemical products, and machinery.