Milan

Milan (pop. 1,358,600), city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy. An important European trade and transportation hub, it is Italy's major industrial and commercial center, producing automobiles, airplanes, textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, machinery, and books. Founded by the Celts c.400 B.C., Milan was a major late Roman city; it was the principal city state of Lombardy under the Visconti (1277–1447) and Sforza families. Spanish from 1535, Milan fell to Austria in 1714 and became a center of the 19th-century Risorgimento. Artistic treasures include the Milan Cathedral, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, the Brera palace and art gallery, and La Scala opera house.