The zone includes the following districts: •
Brera, which houses the
Brera Academy of Fine Arts and the
Brera Art Gallery, which prominently contributed to the development of Brera as an artists' neighborhood and a place of
bohemian atmosphere, sometimes referred to as "the milanese
Montmartre". Both the academy and the Gallery are located in
Palazzo Brera, the main historical building of the area; this same building also houses
Milan's botanical garden as well as
an astronomical observatory and the
Braidense National Library. Other features that contribute to the character of Brera include restaurants, bars, night clubs, antique and art shops, colorful street markets, as well as
fortune tellers' booths. •
Porta Sempione, a prominent historic district that also includes part of Corso Sempione, a large avenue leading to Porta Sempione from the northwest. The main landmark of this area is the
Sforza Castle, which dominates the
Sempione Park, the largest and most important city park in the centre of Milan. The park houses other renowned monuments and places of interest, such as the
Branca Tower, the Palazzo dell'Arte (one of the seats of the
Triennale art expo), sculptures by
Giorgio de Chirico, and the
public aquarium. The whole area is one of the centres of the so-called "Milanese
movida", with a number of bars, pubs, restaurants, and discos; since the
RAI public television company, as well as some major radio stations, have their headquarters in the area, frequent appearances of celebrities contribute to the popularity of the Sempione's night life venues. •
Porta Venezia, a medieval district nowadays characterized by many
neoclassical buildings. Some of the most important buildings in the area include
Palazzo Saporiti,
Palazzo Serbelloni,
Palazzo Castiglioni and Villa Reale. The Gardens of Porta Venezia (recently renamed "
Indro Montanelli Gardens") house the
Museum of Natural History as well as the
Planetarium. The district has a long history of foreign immigration and has developed over the last decades as one of the multi-ethnic areas of Milan, to the point that it is sometimes referred to as Milan's "African district" or Milan's
casbah. The district also houses some of the most important
LBGT venues in Milan, such as the "Lelephant" and the "Atomic Bar". •
Sarpi, which includes a large portion of the
Milanese Chinatown, home of the oldest and largest Chinese community in Italy. Originally established during the 1920s by immigrants who used to operate small textile and leather workshops, today the district is filled with hairdressing salons, fashion
boutiques, silk and leather stores, libraries, traveling agencies, medicine centres and massage parlours. The Chinese takeaways and restaurants in the area are mostly specialised in
Zhejiang cuisine. Several Italian-Chinese companies are also headquartered in the neighborhood, including the editorial desk of the newspaper
Europe China Daily.
Via Paolo Sarpi is the main street and is largely a pedestrian area. •
Porta Tenaglia; •
Ticinese; •
Duomo; •
Magenta-San Vittore; •
Quadronno; •
Pagano;
Sestieri As many cities in Italy, the historic centre of Milan is also subdivided into many historical
sestieri, medieval subdivisions themselves subdivided into different
contrade.
Fashion district Quadrilatero della moda (; literally "fashion square"), or
Via Montenapoleone fashion district, is the high-class shopping district in the centre of the zone, characterized by the presence of numerous boutiques and related retail outlets which represent most of the world's major
fashion houses. The sides of the square, located to the south of the arches of
Porta Nuova, are formed by
Via Montenapoleone,
Via Manzoni,
Via della Spiga and
Corso Venezia. Streets inside this area include
Via Borgospesso,
Via Santo Spirito, Via Gesù,
Via Sant'Andrea, Via Bagutta, and Via Baggutino. The zone extends in practice also to the north-west of Via Manzoni with
Via Pisoni, and to the south and west of
Via Montenapoleone with
Corso Giacomo Matteotti (this last meets
Corso Venezia at
Piazza San Babila),
Piazza Meda,
Via San Pietro all'Orto, and
Via Verri. ==Government==