MONZA

History:

It is presumed Milan was originally founded by the Celts of Northern Italy around 600 BC and was conquered around 222 BC by the Romans, who gave it the name of Mediolanum. In the 4th century A.D., at the time of the bishop Saint Ambrose and emperor Theodosius I, the city was briefly the capital of the Western Roman Empire. At that time Milan was the second largest city in Europe, with more than 300,000 inhabitants.

In the 11th century, after the Ostrogothic and Lombard periods, the city regained its importance and led other Italian cities in gaining semi-independence from the Holy Roman Empire. During the Plague of 1349 Milan was one of the few places in Europe that was untouched by the epidemic, but it was deeply affected by the plagues of 1402 (50,000 deaths), 1542 (80,000), 1576 (17,000) and 1629 (70,000). During the Renaissance Milan was ruled by dukes of the Visconti and Sforza families, who had artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Bramante at their service. After trying to conquer the rest of northern Italy in the 15th century, Milan was conquered by France, and then by Spain, in the early 16th century.

In the 18th century Austria replaced Spain as Milan's overlord, but the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars saw the city annexed into the French satellite states of the Cisalpine Republic, which later became the Kingdom of Italy. After this period, Milan was part of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, under Austrian rule. Milan eventually became one of the main centres of Italian nationalism, claiming independence and the unification of Italy.

After World War II, Milan evolved into the financial capital of Italy, but was always a major commercial centre even in Roman times. Most of Lombardy's people live in the cities with the industries and businesses, like Varese, Como, Brescia and Bergamo, because the land in Lombardy is not as fertile as that in other regions of Italy. This has allowed Lombardy to become a principle region for economic growth in Italy.  

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