Lombardy is an enigma.
This most highly developed and economically powerful of regions is a force in fashion, commerce, industry, advertising and technology. As one of the top five economic areas in Europe, its people seem to have more in common with their northern European counterparts than the stereotyped Latin type.
These are industrious, matter of fact people, with a strong work ethic. Yet for all this modernity, Lombardy retains some of the most beautiful landscapes in Italy.
And for lovers of art, nature and beauty it has an embarrassment of riches: the Cathedral, Castello Sforzesco, La Scala theatre in Milan; the lakes, Stelvio national park, the Gardesana” coast; the Lomellina and the Valtellina districts.
Plus well preserved civic building scattered through the land that range from the Romanesque, Gothic, through Renaissance to Baroque. The cultural, artistic and natural heritage remains impressive.
Visit the Sirmione peninsula on Lake Garda and the “Gardesana” coast; the Lomellina and the Valtellina districts.
In
the Sforza Castle, Milan, there are the Art Museums which comprise
several sections for painting, sculpture and applied arts; the Brera
Gallery, which houses some of the all-time masterpieces of painting; inn
the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, a very rich private collection of paintings
of great masters, fittings, art objects and ancient jewelry can be
admired; other masterpieces of painting can be seen inn the Pinacoteca
Ambrosiana.
The National Museum of Science and Technique is
devoted to railway and air transports. In Brescia the Roman Museum has
an interesting section devoted to the Christian Age.
In Como, the
Civic Museums have large rooms for local history and art. In Cremona,
the Civic Museum houses mosaics and relics of the Romanesque period,
while the Stradivariano Museum displays the history of the famous
ancient violin makers.
Bergamo has the important Carrara Academy
Gallery. Mantua is known for the Ducal Palace with Gonzaga’s Palace and
the Museo del Risorgimento. In Pavia there are the Civic Museums for
archeology and painting.
The local cheeses are superb and the oil produced in the vicinity of Garda Lake is of an incomparable quality. Rice here is as important as pasta and one of the culinary masterpieces here is risotto giallo or saffron-flavoured rice.
Don’t know where to go? Let our collections inspire you.
