{"id":3343,"date":"2026-07-30T14:10:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=3343"},"modified":"2026-07-30T15:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:03:46","slug":"milans-canal-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=3343","title":{"rendered":"Milan\u2019s Canal District"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Milan is an ancient city, with Celts and Romans living there since well before the birth of Christ.  Yet compared with Italian cities like Venice or Rome itself, there isn\u2019t that much history on display.  That\u2019s because Milan was in the middle of so many wars over the centuries that a lot was destroyed.  Thus, the Milan Olympics\u2019 closing ceremonies were held in Verona\u2019s Roman amphitheater, not in Milan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes, Milan has it\u2019s fabulous cathedral and the castle of one of its Renaissance ruling families.  They\u2019re well worth visiting but they\u2019re not where you go for a good time.  If you\u2019re looking to mix your history with a little fun, the place to go in Milan is the Canal District, known in Italian as the Navigli<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First the history part.  Venice is a lagoon; its canals are naturally made.  But Milan isn\u2019t close to water, so to supply the city they had to build canals.  Way back in the 12th<\/sup> century, the Milanese recognized that they needed to get supplies into the city in bulk.  Horse-drawn carts couldn\u2019t carry the necessary load anymore.  So first they built the big canal, the Naviglio Grande<\/em>, that connected them to the Lake Maggiore and the rest of Europe beyond.  Other canals were built later on, but the one you want to know about is the big one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the centuries the district where the canals are became run down, as trains replaced canal boats.  Starting in the 1980\u2019s, artists and designers started taking up space in the abandoned lofts and workshops along the canals.  (Sounds like Soho in New York City, doesn\u2019t it?)  Where there are artists, there are galleries.  Where there are galleries, there are caf\u00e9s (or caff\u00e9s, in this case).  And so, little by little, the Navigli<\/em> was reborn, this time as a tourist destination.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Milan\u2019s major canal at 6:30 on a summer evening.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The funny thing is, there\u2019s plenty of local Milanese there, too.  Italy\u2019s national sport isn\u2019t soccer.  It\u2019s getting dressed nicely and taking a walk and looking around at all the other people taking a walk.  There\u2019s even a word for it, the passeggiata<\/em>. And there\u2019s no better place for a passeggiata <\/em>than a long walkway with plenty of places to stop for a glass of wine or a Campari.  Actually, two walkways, on either side of the canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can certainly visit the Navigli<\/em> during the day.  By all means, drop into the galleries, have a little lunch, get a little sun.  But you\u2019re missing the best time of day.  Starting around five o\u2019clock, or a little later in mid-summer, the sunlight fades and the people come out for a stroll.  You can be a part of the parade or you can sit on the side in a caff\u00e9 and watch the parade go by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many restaurants along the Naviglio Grande<\/em>.  Many are pizzerias or pasta joints just for the tourists.  But there are some good restaurants as well.  Most of them serve Milan\u2019s specialties, Veal Cutlet Milanese and Risotto Milanese.  These restaurants also have pastas with a bit more to offer than simple red sauce.  One can spend hours there having a first aperitivo<\/em> at one caff\u00e9 and then on to the next caff\u00e9 for another aperitivo<\/em> and, and, and\u2026with some snacks offered with them while watching the passeggiata<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Milan is an ancient city, with Celts and Romans living there since well before the birth of Christ.  Yet compared with Italian cities like Venice or Rome itself, there isn\u2019t that much history on display.  That\u2019s because Milan was in the middle of so many wars over the centuries that a lot was destroyed.  Thus, … Continue reading Milan\u2019s Canal District<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3343"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3343"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3361,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3343\/revisions\/3361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}