FAI - Palazzina Appiani Tickets

When in 1796 the French troops led by Napoleon burst into Milan, a brief but intense political and civil season opened for the city that saw it the protagonist of great plans destined to give it a metropolitan and cultural dimension worthy of a capital. Architecture also had to respond to this need for change and transformation with projects that celebrated the magnificence of Napoleonic power. The urban reorganization of the vast area around the Sforza Castle became its emblem: it was conceived as a large parade ground, even equipped with a triumphal arch - the Arch of Peace - and an arena for public performances, designed in 1805 by Luigi Canonica on the model of the ancient Roman circuses. Today the Civic Arena is one of the few remaining architectures that testify to the ambitious plans of Napoleon, who here also wanted a grandstand for his public appearances. Thus arose a loggia with monumental classical forms open on the