Page 66 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Milan & The Lakes

64  MILAN AREA B Y AREA

Street-by-Street: Around the Castello Sforzesco

The Castello Sforzesco and Parco Sempione today are the
result of late 19th-century landscaping and restoration.
Architect Luca Beltrami managed to thwart attempts
to demolish the castle by converting it into a museum
centre. He restored many of its original elements. In the
early 1800s, the Arco della Pace and the Arena were built
in the Parco Sempione, which was landscaped as an
“English” garden by Emilio Alemagna. To mark the 1906
opening of the Galleria del Sempione, an International
Exposition was held, featuring new products that later 3 Acquario Civico
became household names in Italy. The Civic Aquarium was built in 1906
as an exhibition and educational
centre. The building still has its
original decoration of tiles and reliefs.
F O R O B U O N A P A R T E

VIALE BARBARO P I A Z Z A C A S T E L L O

4 Arena Civica V I A L E B Y R O N
This amphitheatre, built in 1806, was used
for boating displays, when it was filled with
water from the Naviglio canals.
V I A L E M A L T A

P I A Z Z A L E
S E M P I O N E
2 . Parco Sempione
The 47-hectare (116-acre) English-
style garden was designed by
Emilio Alemagna in 1893. It V I A L E A L E M A G N A
contains a number of historic
buildings and monuments.
5 . Arco della Pace
Modelled on the
triumphal arch of
Septimius Severus, the
Arch of Peace was built to
7 Corso Sempione celebrate Napoleon’s
Napoleon built this avenue victories. However, it was
leading to the Castello, inaugurated by Francis I
modelling it on the in memory of the peace
Champs-Elysées in Paris. declared in 1815.

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