MILANO
milano is located in the western part of north-italy, and is its largest and most important city. it has 1.4 mio residents.
it is assumed that milano was founded around 600 b.c. by celtic tribes. in 222 b.c. the romans captured it, and called it "mediolanum".
in 286 a.d. the roman emperor diocletian decided that rome is not the real & only capital anymore. instead, mediolanum became the center of the western roman emire. nicomedia (in turkey, east of istanbul) became the center of the eastern roman empire. his own center was spalatum (modern split) in dalmatia.
the importance of mediolanum ceded around 400 a.d. when first gothic and later frankish realms got hold of northern italy, and ravenna was made the capital center.
at a later time milano was owned by the french king, yet finally lombardy with milano as its main town became part of the austrian habsburg empire.
only from 1860 onwards, when an italian kingdom was established, milano regained significance, and soon became the commercial dominance over northern italy.
during ww-2 milan was exposed to heavy bombing by the allied forces - but most of crucial buildings survived.
given its rich history, today's milano is crowded with impressive monuments.
