MILAN, called by the Italians Milano, and by the Germans Mailand or Mayland, is one of the governments into which the Austrian kingdom of Lombardy is divided. It was known as the duchy of Milan, till it came under the dominion of the imperial family of Austria. In the article Italy of this work, the history of the ancient realm of the Longobards, with its kings of the iron crown, is noticed, as well as the other remarkable events respecting this country; and here we need only state the dates of the principal occurrences under the independent dukedoms.

The first duke was Gallea2o Visconti, who was installed in that dignity by the Emperor Wenzel in the year 1395; and it continued in his family till the male line became extinct in 1447. France made some urgent efforts to obtain the authority, but these were of no avail, as Francisco Sforza, who had married an illegitimate daughter of the last Visconti, succeeded in gaining possession of the supreme power in this beautiful country, and transmitted it to his successors, who ruled till 1499. At that period Louis XII. king of France, and Francis I. emperor of Germany, laid claim to it. It was long the subject of contention between these two great powers, sometimes possessed by one, sometimes by the other, till after the decisive battle of Pavia in 1525, by which the emperor became master of Milan; and, By the treaty of Madrid in 1556, the possession of it was confirmed, when Francis granted it to Maximilian Sforza, to be held as a fief of the Holy Roman empire. The house of Sforza became extinct in 1535, upon which the Emperor Charles V. granted the duchy to his son Philip the Second, king of Spain. It remained under the power of the heirs of that crown till the war of the succession in 1706, when the events of that contest placed it in the hands of the house of Austria; but, by the treaty of Vienna in 1735, and by that of Worms in 1745, several portions of the country were delivered over to the king of Sardinia. The French revolution occasioned a successful invasion and much fighting, which in 1796 produced the ephemeral Cisalpine republic, which was annihilated by the Austrians and Russians in 1799; but the decisive battle of Marengo in 1801 gave the whole country to Bonaparte, who soon erected his kingdom of Italy, with the city of Milan as its capital and the residence of his viceroy. The peace of Paris in 1814 restored it again to the Austrian dominions, under which it has continued to the present day.

Milan is at present divided into the following nine delegations.

By a late return, it appears that the males under seventeen years of age were 390,634, those between seventeen and twenty-four 88,993, those between twenty-four and thirty-four 105,780, those between thirty-four and forty-six 230,405, and those above forty-six were not classed, as the account was taken for military purposes, from which persons above that age are exempt.

The chief occupation of this body of inhabitants consists in the cultivation of the soil. As that subject has been discussed in what appears its most appropriate place in this work under the head of Lombardy, our readers are referred to that article. This government contains 462,700 families, who inhabit 279,160 houses, in fifteen cities, ninety-seven market-towns, and 3217 villages. It is bounded on the east by the government of Venice, on the north by the Swiss cantons, on the west by the territory of Sardinia, and on the south by Parma, Modena, and Sardinia. The northern part is mountainous and sterile, comprehending a portion of the Alps and extensive lakes; but the southern and much the larger part is level and highly fertile, being watered by numerous streams issuing from the lakes, all of which, with their various tributary rivulets, are finally emptied into the Po. There are abundance of canals connected with the rivers and with each other, which are made use of both for the purposes of irrigation and for the conveyance of goods; but on these highly interesting topics we must refer the reader, as before, to the general article Lombardy. Milan, a city, the capital of the Austrian kingdom of Lombardy, as well as of the delegation in which it stands. Although it has suffered much by war, and by the political events of the last fifty y s ears, it is still the richest, and, except Naples, the most populous city of Italy. It stands on the river Olona, and, by means of the canal called Naviglio Grande, is connected with the river Ticino, and, by the Martesana, with the river Adda. From this water intercourse, and from the excellence of the roads in all directions round the city, the markets are supplied with every necessary in the most convenient and easy manner.

The city is nearly of a circular figure; it is walled, but scarcely defensible against a decided attack; and it is protected by a citadel containing six bastions. The whole compass of the wall is 5900 fathoms, or nearly seven English miles. The longest part, from the Porta Rσmana to the Porta Sempione, is 1800 fathoms; and the broadest part, from the Porta Ticenese to the Porta Orientale, is 1600 fathoms. The wall is furnished with eleven gates, some of which are the most striking objects of the city, and merit special notice. The most remarkable of these is that at the gate leading to 4icino, which resembles the entrance to a Roman temple. It is built of granite, and consists of colossal pillars of the Ionic order, with an appropriate peristyle; and in connection with it is the fine bridge over the Naviglio Grande. The Arco dclla Pace, or del Sempione, Bonaparte had formed the design of erecting as a trium-
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phal arch to celebrate his conquest and dominion over Italy. It was not finished at the fall of Napoleon in 1813, but was completed by the Emperor of Austria in 1816, and a name given to it intended to commemorate the return of peace. The pillars, of six feet in circumference and forty feet in height, formed out of a single block of marble, are its most distinguishing ornaments. The arch resting on them, of a breadth nearly equal to that of Constantine, is ornamented with a car of bronze, to which six horses are harnessed, and in which the goddess of victory is seated. The whole building is of white marble, with the various figures and bas-reliefs of bronze.

The streets of this city are generally narrow and crooked, and rather gloomy from the height of the buildings. One of the streets, the Corso, or High Street, is an exception; it runs through the whole city, is nearly two miles and a half in length, is of great breadth, and on both sides has magnificent and lofty houses. In the whole city the pavement is far better than is usually seen in towns on the Continent. It is composed of small pieces of marble or of granite, and in the middle, where the carriages pass, there are in the narrow streets two, and in the broad streets four, rows of flat granite laid down, on which the wheels run; and for foot passengers there is a similar pavement close to the houses. The streets are kept clean, which is owing to a branch of industry exercised by the poorest people, who collect in baskets whatever filth can be converted into manure, and carry it out of the gates, where it always finds ready purchasers.

There are in Milan few piazzas or squares, and none either large, fine, or even regular. The Piazza di Duomo is long, but narrow and disfigured by the booth-like shops and buildings that surround it. The Piazza di Mercante has in its centre a porticowhere the traders assemble, but it is small. The Piazza Fontana has a fine fountain, with two excellent figures in marble. The Piazza d’Armi, formerly the Foro Bonaparte, is the best promenade in Milan. It is used as an exercising place for the garrison, stands near the citadel, and on Sundays and holidays is much frequented by the more fashionable part of the inhabitants. It is planted with trees, and is about 600 yards long and 540 broad.

Amongst the public buildings in Milan, the churches are the most remarkable; the first of which, the Duomo or cathedral, is the most remarkable. Next to St Peter’s at Rome, it is the largest church in Italy. It is 480 feet in length, 285 feet in breadth; the height of the cupola is 240 feet, and of the highest pinnacle 352 feet. This vast edifice, dedicated to St Charles, was commenced so long ago as the year 1386. The various turns of fate that have attended the city have had their influence in retarding or furthering the progress of the work. Under Napoleon, large sums were drawn from the public revenue and applied to this structure; and since the restoration of the Austrian government, the Emperor of Austria has directed 12,000 francs, or about L.500, to be paid monthly till the completion of the edifice. It is now finished, except the placing of a number of statues, for which vacant places are left, and some few ornaments which wait the finishing touch of the artists. The outside of the church, which is wholly of white marble, and which in several places, from the weather, had become black, has been well rubbed, and now appears quite as white as the newer parts.

It is to be regretted that there is no place from which a good point of view of this cathedral can be obtained. On three sides it is built up by narrow streets, and only the majestic front with its five colossal entrances can be seen from the Piazza di Duomo.

The whole building is in the Gothic style, but it has been frequently departed from, which is considered by the critics as its greatest,, or, indeed, its only fault. A vast collection of figures from the hands of the most eminent statuaries, to the number of more than 5000, are placed upon the walls, upon the Gothic turrets, and upon the pinnacles. They are images of various saints, all as large as life. Richly-ornamented galleries, with finely-carved volutes and roses, extend from one tower to the other. The roof is a surprising work, which is reached by a winding staircase of two hundred steps, from which the labyrinth of pillars surrounding the spectator has a most singular effect. In the centre of the roof rises the majestic dome, on which is placed a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary.

The church has five entrances, which lead to that number of divisions, pointed out by fifty-two octagonal marble pillars, eighty-six feet in height, which are bound together at the top by Gothic arches. The altars are numerous and richly ornamented, and on the floor a meridian line was inserted in 1786. The floor is composed of pieces of marble of different colours, by which various ornamental figures are formed. The first entrance to this edifice is most imposing and exciting. The panorama from the top is very gratifying, exhibiting near to it the whole circuit of the city; the verdant fields in contact with it on the south side; the rich plain of Lombardy, extending to the river Po, and terminating with the Apennines, studded with towns, villages, and hamlets, intermingled with vineyards and woods of mulberry trees; whilst on the north the same kind of prospect is bounded by the Alps, having Monte Rosa in front, with ranges of mountains rising one above the other, the most distant rearing their tops into the region of eternal snow. The other ecclesiastical edifices are numerous, being stated to be no less than seventy-nine, most of them of great interest; but our space will admit of noticing but a few of the most remarkable. The imperial collegiate church of St Ambrosio is distinguished by its antiquity; and the most costly ornaments, and numerous objects of art, are to be seen within it. It is a kind of museum for the history of the arts, and is also the church in which the kings of Lombardy of the iron crow n were consecrated. The church of St Alessandro contains valuable treasures in paintings chiefly in fresco, and sumptuous statuary; whilst the capitals of the pillars that support it are of bronze. The church of St Nazaro is one of the finest and largest in the city, and is adorned with some of those best paintings, both in oil and in fresco, which have immortalised the masters of the Italian school. St Sebastian’s is worthy of notice from its architecture in the rotunda form. It was formerly a Roman temple, and still displays many specimens of its antiquity. It is said to have been one of the three churches which Barbarossa spared from his general devastation. The church of St Fidele unites simplicity with great extent, but its façade is yet unfinished. The St Maria Maggiore contains many very fine ancient paintings, and the monument of St Bernhardin. The celebrated fresco painting of the Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, remains in what was formerly the refectory of the Dominican convent, but is now used as a magazine for hay and straw. It has been much neglected, and the saltpetre, which has extended itself over the wall on which it is painted, has destroyed the glow of the colours, and in many places the paint has peeled off, whilst in others it is covered with mould. Several amongst the civil buildings are deserving of notice. The royal palace, though its exterior makes but little impression, is the residence of the viceroy. It is called the Villa, and contains a magnificent apartment, in which stands .the throne. It contains many curiosities, and amongst the rest the fresco paintings of Appiani. The palace of the archbishop is a fine piece of architecture, and contains an admirable collection of paintings The Palace Marini, now used as an office for the public accounts, is considered as the most perfect, as it is one of the largest, buildings in Milan. Besides these edifices, the mint, in which [7:15:65]is a fine statue of Philip II. of Spain, the Villa Belgioso, the palaces of the families of Serbelloni, of Cicona, of Litta, of Melzi, of Andreani, of Borromeo, and of numerous others, are of great extent, as well as of various kinds of architecture, and produce much interest amid the general aspect of the city.

Of modern buildings, the barracks, erected under the viceroyship of Eugene Beauharnois, are the largest, the most handsome, and the most convenient, of any pile of the kind in Europe.

The establishments and the erections devoted to the sciences, to literature, and to the fine arts, are the most distinguishing objects on which the Milanese can pride themselves. Above all others is the Brera, formerly the college of the Jesuits, and before them of a brotherhood called Umiliati ; at present it is connected with the university of Pavia. The interior square of the building is surrounded with colonnades, on the ground floor composed of Doric, and on the upper floor with Ionic pillars, forming open halls. The tower of this edifice is employed as an astronomical observatory, and the garden is made use of for the purpose of botany. The ground floor is adapted for lecture-rooms, and the upper floor contains a library of more than 100,000 volumes and numerous valuable manuscripts. Adjoiningto it is the picture-gallery, containing many excellent productions, especially some most valuable fresco paintings, which have been preserved and removed from the churches and monasteries in and around the city. On the upper story are apartments, wherein is a collection of numerous casts of ancient and modern sculpture in plaster of Paris, and also one of coins and medals.

The next in celebrity of the libraries in Milan is the Ambrosian, founded by Cardinal Borromeo. It consists of 60,000 volumes of books, and 15,000 of manuscripts, now bound so as to form only 6000 volumes. With this, in some other apartments, are connected collections of pictures and of statuary, both of great merit. Besides these public establishments, there are many collections of old and valuable works in the libraries Fagnani, Melzi, Reina, Litta, Archinto, and Trivulzi.

In this large city, where the destitute, the aged, and the infirm, are very numerous, the institutions for their relief are upon a commensurate scale. The Ospitale Maggiore is a prodigious range of building, with a beautiful front, entered by magnificent portals of 450 feet in length. The usual number of patients contained in it is from 3700 to 4000. With this is connected the foundling hospital, in which 1100 children are maintained within the walls, and about 2900 are sent to board in the villages around the city. There is also a large lying-in-hospital; a lunatic asylum, in which are kept generally 420 insane persons; the lazaretto, containing many small houses without the gates, as a precaution against the plague; the Trivulzi, which contains 480 poor of both sexes, above seventy years of age, who are maintained by property bequeathed to it by the noble family of that name; an orphan-house, which supports 350 young persons, and several smaller institutions. Besides these, the monks and the nuns of the order of mercy have each their benevolent establishments.

The places of amusement are not numerous, though upon a large scale. The opera-house, Della Scala, is one of the most extensive theatres of Europe. It was built in 1776, on the site of an ancient church of that name. It contains 240 boxes in six tiers, one above the other, and has seats for 800 persons in the pit, besides standing room in the centre and both sides of it, so that it is calculated to contain 7000 spectators. The performers, both in music and dancing, are of the very first class during the fashionable season. There is also another, the imperial theatre, or Canobbianca, and four or five snlall private theatres.

The city, including the suburbs and the garrison, contains 163,000 inhabitants. The chief wholesale trade consists in silk, either raw or spun, and in cheese; for the particulars of which see the article Lombardy in this work. The retail trade is much divided, and consists in that usually carried on in large cities, which it dispenses to the towns and the villages around it for domestic use. As Milan is a kind of metropolis to the north of Italy, and resorted to in the winter by the rich, at that time of the year the tradesmen are in full occupation; but at other seasons they have little occupation, except what arises from the foreign visitors.

The city, by observation taken at the cathedral, is in long. 9. 5. 45. E. and lat. 45. 27. 35. N.