Thursday, 15 January 2015

Milano - Italy

Before I start my journey in Europe I planned with my family to make the process to get the italian citizenship, in order to live in Europe for how long I wished.

Since october I've been living in Ireland again. I got a good job there and after a few time working too much I did money enough to start the process in Italy

I took the plane (in fact I hate to fly). I arrived in italy at 12/01/2015 on evening and Marcilio (the guy who is helping me with the process) picked me up on Milano Centrale.

My first impression about this city it was not too good, the city is too big, many cars, many roads and everything here it's far away, anyway, after one hour driving he left me home. Here I met more 3 brazilians trying to do the same as me.

On next morning we have been in a governmental office to make the "codigo fiscale" this is like a "CPF" in Brazil, and then we went to city centre to walk. We went to Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli, a beautiful place with many sculptures and a natural history museum.

In our third day we went to Piaza Duomo and to Sforzesco Castle, we walked where Napoleon Bonaparte had walked some centuries ago.






























Sforzesco Castle -  Historical background
Along with the Cathedral - Milan's most famous and much beloved monument - the big Castle is linked to the vicissitudes and dramatic events that the city has been experiencing over the past centuries. For many years, in fact, it has represented a symbol of the power in the hands of the Dukes, as well as of the foreign dominators. Only at the beginning of the 20th century the Castle assumed its distinctive role, becoming a place of culture, which hosted numerous Lombard art collections. The Castle was named after Francesco Sforza, who transformed it into a ducal residence in 1450. But its origins date back to the second half of the 14th century, at the time of Galeazzo II Visconti. 


Source: http://www.milanocastello.it/ing/menuStoriaLunga.html






















Porta Sempione ("Simplon Gate")
It is a city gate of Milan, Italy. The name "Porta Sempione" is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district ("quartiere"), a part of the Zone 1 division (the historic city centre), including the major avenue of Corso Sempione. The gate is marked by a landmark triumphal arch called Arco della Pace ("Arch of Peace"), dating back to the 19th century, but its origins can be traced back to a gate of the Roman walls of Milan.


HistoryFormer toll house of Porta Sempione

A gate that roughly corresponds to modern Porta Sempione was already part of Roman walls of Milan. It was called "Porta Giovia" ("Jupiter's Gate") and was located at the end of modern Via San Giovanni sul Muro. At the time, the gate was meant to control an important road leading to what is now Castelseprio. Very little remains of the original Roman structure; some Roman tombstones that used to be placed by the outer side of the walls have been employed in the construction of later buildings such as the Basilica of Saint Simplician (located in Corso Garibaldi).

In the Middle Ages, part of the Roman walls in the Porta Sempione area were adapted as part of the new walls. The gate itself was moved north, in a place that is now occupied by the Sforza Castle. The Castle itself was completed in the 15th Century, under Duke Filippo Maria Visconti, and the gate itself became part of the Castle.

In 1807, under the Napoleonic rule, the Arch of Peace was built by architect Luigi Cagnola. This new gate marked the place where the new Strada del Sempione entered Milan. This road, which is still in use today, connects Milan to Paris through the Simplon Pass crossing the Alps. At the time, the gate was still called "Porta Giovia". When the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy fell and Milan was conquered by the Austrian Empire, the gate was not yet completed, and the construction was abandoned for a while.

The construction of the Arch was resumed, again by Cagnola, in 1826, for Emperor Francis II, who dedicated the monument to the 1815 Congress of Vienna. When Cagnola died in 1833, his project was taken over by Francesco Londonio and Francesco Peverelli, who brought it to completion in 1838.

The gate was the scene of several prominent events in the Milanese history of the 19th century. In 22 March 1848, the Austrian army led by marshal Josef Radetzky escaped from Milan through Porta Giovia after being defeated in the Five Days of Milan rebellion. On 8 June 1859, four days after the Battle of Magenta, Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II of Italy triumphally entered Milan through the gate.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porta_Sempione








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