Milan, a metropolis in Italy's northern Lombardy region, is a global capital of fashion and design. Home to the national stock exchange, it’s a financial hub also known for its high-end restaurants and shops. The Gothic Duomo di Milano cathedral and the Santa Maria delle Grazie convent, housing Leonardo da Vinci’s mural “The Last Supper,” testify to centuries of art and culture.

The cathedral shares the central Piazza del Duomo with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. This glass-roofed, 19th-century arcade is now home to luxury shopping and upscale cafes serving classic Milanese food such as risotto and osso buco veal stew. Milan’s cultural scene centres on the 18th-century Teatro alla Scala opera house and the Pinacoteca di Brera gallery, which houses centuries of Italian painting by artists such as Titian and Caravaggio. Twice a year the Quadrilatero d'Oro fashion district buzzes when catwalks take over neoclassical palaces for the famous Milan Fashion Weeks.

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