Art & culture – All our local tips

It’s not easy to give a strict definition to this place… it’s actually at the same time a trendy cafe, an art library, a fashion shop.

It’s located right in the middle of one of the most trendy areas of Milano, just a few hundred meters from the Garibaldi train and metro station. When you enter the main door you’re in a typical Milanese courtyard with a lot of plants where there are the tables of the cafe. Right in front of you there is the proper cafe (on the right) and the fashion shop (on the left). I never entered the shop and the cafe is good but quite expensive.

The most interesting part is on the left: there are stairs that lead to the upper floor. There you find a very good library specialized in books about design, art, architecture, photography, fashion that really worth a visit! There are also a free art gallery called Galleria Sozzani that hosts exhibitions (often about photography) where you can enter for free. They had The World Press Photo 2009 a few months ago and now there is an exhibition about Floris Neususs (till August 2nd).

If you go there, don’t miss out on the architecture of the courtyard: a very typical one of our city.

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10 Corso Como | Art & culture, Bars | Cocktails € 10.00
Corso Como 10 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +3902654831
Cafe: Mon 18:00 – 00:00, Tue – Sun 11:00 – 00:00

A long long time ago, in 1135, a French Cistercian abbot decided to found an abbey in the rich plain just south of the town of Milano. It quickly became a very important religious and economical center.

The present church, that is still in a very agricultural area, was erected between the XII and the XIII century in French gothic style with Italian influences. The walls are made up of red bricks, that were used more often than stone at the time. The interior is decorated with frescoes from the XIV-XVII century. You should definitely not miss the fresco on the right side of the transect, around the stairs that lead to the ancient dormitory of the monks. It is dedicated to the genealogical tree of the Benedectine Order.

On the right side of the church visit the cloister and have a look in the superb dining hall of the monks! Another thing that is very particular as architecture is the bell tower just over the church. A little curiosity, most of all if you’re coming from Czech Republic: the first king of Bohemia was buriedn in this church.

It’s not very easy to get there without a car. There is only the 77 bus, that runs from the metro station of Corvetto (and not too frequently). If you take it, it stops just in front of the abbey.

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Abazia di Chiaravalle | Art & culture | Free
Via S. Arialdo 102 | Hinterland
Tue – Sat 09:00 -12:00 & 14:30 – 17:30, Sun 14:30 – 17:30

This is not a real “spot”, but I think it’s worth mentioning anyway! The public transport in Milan is composed by 3 metro lines, a suburban railway, many busses and many trams. The formers are by far my favorite way to move around the city center.

In particular there are still many old trams in service that were built in the first half of the 1900: like tram 1, 2, 4, 23 and many others. They look quite compact compared to the newer ones and give a good feeling of solidity, with the body completely made up of hard metal, painted in the typical orange of the public means of transport of Milano. The inside is quite rugged as well, with wooden seats (actually not too comfortable), but is very bright thanks to the big windows.

I think that if you come to Milano a ride on these trams is nearly a “must”! A little curiosity: a few years ago the city of San Francisco (USA) bought some of these trams that are now used over there too!

A couple of these trams are used for special events: there is one, called ATMosfera, that is a restaurant, where you can have dinner while going through the city center and another one that can be booked for private parties!

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Old trams | Art & culture, Relaxing | 75 min € 1.00
Piazza del Duomo / Via Torino | Centro
Daily

In piazza del Duomo, just on the right of the cathedral there is the former royal palace of Milano. It’s a neoclassical elegant building that is now used for particular occasions by the city authorities and as exposition center.

They usually organize art expositions that last a few months with great masterpieces from the most important museums of the world. Usually they’re centered on a single artist and include also masterpieces of others minor artists in some ways linked to him.

Some of the best exhibitions I remember where the ones about Picasso, the Impressionists, the American pop art, Kandinsky and the last one, that just closed, about Canova, with 7 marbles from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. This last one in particular was a really great if only for the atmosphere. Instead of using the usual area on the ground floor, the statues were placed in the original neoclassical rooms at the first floor, obtaining really a perfect effect.

From my point f view there are only two drawbacks: it’s usually quite expensive (up to 9€ and 7€ for students for one exposition) and it’s not allowed to take photos (that for a lover of photography like me it’s really very annoying!).

At present there is an exhibition about the “scapigliatura”, an Italian painting movement from the 19th century (till November 22nd) and from October 14th there will be another exhibition about Edward Hopper.

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Palazzo Reale | Art & culture | Ticket € 9.00
Piazza del Duomo | Centro
Mon 14:30 – 19:30, Tue – Wed & Fri – Sun 09:30 – 19:30, Thu. 09:30 – 22:30

Just beside the very famous “last supper” of Leonardo da Vinci there is one of the most beautiful churches of Milano and one of the best examples of architecture of the renaissance in Italy: Santa Maria delle Grazie.

It was designed by Bramante and built in the 15th century, linked to the convent next to it. The outside is in red bricks, with a simple facade but with a very elaborated beautiful dome. The interior is a real example of elegance and simplicity.

It’s very bright, mostly thanks to the white marble and stone that cover most of the surfaces and reflect the light. There are geometric decorations made of red and green marbles. On the left side of the transect there is a door that lead to the cloister, from where you can have a great view of the external part of the dome.

On the opposite side of the cloister there is another door that leads to the sacristy. I think this is one of the most interesting parts of the complex: if it’s open and you can enter. Don’t miss the original furniture with scenes from the bible painted on them!

If you want to see also the “last supper” of Leonardo, remember that you’d better make a reservation long in advance! After the restoration there is a limit on the number of people that can enter every day… so it’s absolutely impossible to enter without making a reservation at least a few weeks before!

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Santa Maria delle Grazie | Art & culture | Free
Piazza di Santa Maria delle Grazie | Centro | +390289421146
Church open daily | Leonardo da Vinci Tue – Sun 08:15 – 19:00

Just a very few years ago this first Milano exhibiton area dedicated only to photography was opened.

It’s based in a building that belongs to the public transport company and is still partly used as a tram deposit. There is not a permanent collection but you can see important international exhibitions that last a few months and travel worldwide.

Usually they are focused on the work of a single photographer. Exhibitions by Gianni Berengo Gardin, Henry Cartier Bresson and Richard Avedon have been displayed here in the last couple of years. The quality of both the images and the printing is really outstanding, with a big quantity of wide format great pictures.

Beside the exhibition area there is a shop that sells books about photography both linked to the present exhibition, the previous ones and other major photographers. There is also a restaurant, that is a bit expensive (I never had dinner there, so I have no clue on the quality of food).

Since it is open on Thursday and Friday evening it’s a good idea to have a “happy hour” in the Navigli area and then go there (it’s only a few hundreds meters away)!

At present there is an exhibition (till november 22nd) about the photographer Albert Watson titled “The white rabbit”.

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Spazio Forma | Art & culture | Entry € 8.00
Piazza Tito Lucrezio Caro | Ticinese/Genova
Tue – Wed & Sat – Sun 11:00 – 21:00, Thu – Fri 11:00 – 23:00

This Art Gallery is definitely a must for all the design-addicted and art lovers! The Triennale Gallery is located in Sempione Park, just beside Castello Sforzesco.

Besides the wonderful location, and the perfect set up of modern pieces of art, what I do really love is having a cup of coffee at the DesignCafè, very white, very design!

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Triennale di Milano | Art & culture, Coffee & tea | Adults € 6.00
Viale Alemagna, 6 | Centro | +392724341
Tues – Sun 10:30 – 20:30