At Global Alliance, we take the “Worldwide” in our company name very seriously. We pride ourselves in offering premium limousine services to our clientele not only in our home base of Toronto but around the globe. Through our sophisticated network of trusted worldwide affiliates, Global Alliance can provide professional chauffeured services in hundreds of international cities. We will discuss many of the major worldwide destinations served via our affiliate network on this blog. We’ll be visiting the northern Italian city of Milan in today’s edition.
Italy’s second-largest city and the fifth most populous larger metropolitan area (numbering approximately five million inhabitants) in the European Union, Milan has been a major commercial, industrial, and cultural centre in the northern Italian region of Lombardy for centuries. A Roman settlement since the 3rd Century BCE, Milan was the capital of the Western Roman Empire for over a century in late antiquity. Conquered many times by invaders from the north, Milan emerged in the Middle Ages as a prosperous and influential trade centre in the Po river valley and an important Christian centre of worship as well. Its great dukes and noble rulers exerted their power over the surrounding region and beyond, built magnificent buildings and commissioned wondrous works and art, and engaged in famous intrigues with rivals, king, emperors, and popes.
Milan remains northern Italy’s dominant urban centre today. Home of the Borsa Italiana, the country’s main stock exchange, Milan has one of the most robust economies in the EU with many national and international firms operating out of the city, including three Fortune 500 countries. This prosperity is reflected in the world of sport, as Milan is home to two of the world’s most prestigious and successful football (or calcio) clubs, Internazionale Milan and AC Milan, who play their games (and contentious local derby matches against each other) at the San Siro (a.k.a. Giuseppe Meazza Stadium), one of Europe’s largest and best stadiums.
Milan is a global capital for fashion and design, as home of many world-famous fashion houses (Versace, Armani, Valentino) as well as the annual Milan Fashion Week. Milan is a world-recognized centre for art and culture, with many masterpiece-packed art galleries and museums in the city, as well as historic landmarks such as the Sforza Castle, the ornate Milan Cathedral on Piazza Duomo, and the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which houses Leonardo da Vinci’s legendary painting The Last Supper. Milan is recognized as a major performing arts centre, especially for opera; the city’s La Scala opera house is one of the most prestigious in the world, and has premiered many enduring opera classics over the past several hundred years.
Milan is served by three major airports. Malpensa International Airport is Italy’s second busiest air hub, the older but more central Linate serves shorter and domestic flights, and the nearby Orio al Serio in Bergamo handles more low-cost air traffic. Milan is also a major rail hub for trains, high-speed and otherwise, with the impressive Art Deco Milan Centrale station operating as one of the busiest on the continent.
Please feel free to contact Global Alliance Worldwide Chauffeured Services for all of your transportation needs in Milan, Italy.