Views of old Milan
Paintings of the city before modernisation, much of it no longer standing.
Lauraderiu — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 01albertop — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Guido Gerly — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 01albertop — CC BY-SA 4.0
An eighteenth-century palace in the heart of Milan's fashion district, holding a museum of costume and image alongside a collection on the city's history. The location could not be more apt: the palace stands on Via Sant'Andrea, one of the streets of the Quadrilatero d'Oro where Armani, Versace and Prada have their shops. A costume museum here makes the building and the district explain each other. The upper floor is preserved with its original furniture as an eighteenth-century noble apartment, together with paintings and views of Milan showing the city before modernisation — views of particular value because much of what they depict no longer stands. The other floor is given to costume and image, with temporary exhibitions that rotate regularly. The value follows what is showing, so check the programme before going. Entry to the permanent collection is normally free, while temporary exhibitions may be ticketed. This is a smart option in this district specifically: you are walking past windows you do not intend to buy from, so you step into a free building that explains why this district became what it is.
Paintings of the city before modernisation, much of it no longer standing.
The upper floor with its original furniture as a noble home.
A costume museum inside the fashion district — building and district explain each other.
Via Sant'Andrea, the fashion district
Bagatti Valsecchi MuseumThe house of two brothers who lived as if in the sixteenth century: Fausto and G2 minutes walk4.8
The Manzoni HouseThe house where the writer Alessandro Manzoni lived for about sixty years until 4 minutes walk4.4
Poldi Pezzoli MuseumThe Poldi Pezzoli is a collector's house become museum — the model later famous 5 minutes walk4.6
The Arches of the Old Porta NuovaA medieval gate in central Milan, built in 1171 as part of the city wall, and on5 minutes walk4.2
Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM), MilanMilan has a public garden that adults are not allowed to enter unless a child br6 minutes walk4.4Yes, because half of it is not about fashion: the upper floor is a historic apartment with its furniture, and the collection of Milan views explains how the city looked before it changed. Entry is normally free, so even an hour costs you nothing.
Four streets in central Milan concentrating the world's best-known fashion houses: Monte Napoleone, Sant'Andrea, della Spiga and Corso Venezia. Walking them is free and worth looking at even without buying, and the palace sits in the middle of them.