The 10 Best Museums in Centro Storico, Lombardy

The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a historic house museum that exquisitely expresses an extraordinary adventure of collecting at the end of the 19th century. The protagonists were two brothers: the Barons Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi.

This fine museum houses an exquisite collection of art, furnishings and historic arms, including Antonio Pollaiuolo's "Portrait of a Lady," which has become an icon for Milan's own style and elegance.

Welcome to the Museum of the Cathedral, a symbol of Milan all over the world. The Museum's 26 exhibition rooms house the works of art originally from both the Duomo and from the historic storerooms of Veneranda Fabbrica, now organised chronologically to illustrate all the construction stages of the Cathedral, from its foundation in 1386 right through to the 20th century.

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana was established in April 1618, when Cardinal Federico Borromeo donated his collection of paintings, drawings and statues to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, which he had founded in 1607. Inside the Pinacoteca's expositive path, articulated in 24 rooms, we can admire some of the greatest masterpieces of all times, like The Musician by Leonardo, The Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio, The cartoon for the School of Athens by Raphael , the Adoration of the Magi by Titian, the Madonna del Padiglione by Sandro Botticelli and the magnificent Vases of Flowers by Jan Brueghel. In addition to Renaissance artworks, the museum's collections include paintings by important 17th century Lombard artists (like Morazzone, Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Daniele Crespi and Carlo Francesco Nuvolone) as well as 18th century artists like Giandomenico Tiepolo, Fra' Galgario, Francesco Londonio, and also a notable cluster of 19th and early 20th centuries authors like Andrea Appiani, Francesco Hayez and Emilio Longoni. Walking from a room to another you can also discover a series of genuine curiosities, like the gloves that Napoleon wore at Waterloo, the armillary spheres from the Settala Collection, or the case that keeps a lock of Lucrezia Borgia's hair, in front of which many famous poets like Gabriele D'Annunzio and Lord Byron came to take inspiration. The ideal end of the visit is the Biblioteca Ambrosiana's old 17th century reading room, the Federiciana Room, which is the frame for the Codex Atlanticus exhibition.

See some of the world’s most stunning, centuries-old paintings from Italian masters including Caravaggio and Raphael. The gallery’s collection is housed in a 19th century former monastery.

La Triennale di Milano is an international cultural institution which organises exhibitions and conferences as well as hosting arts, design, architecture, fashion, cinema, communications and social events. It organizes cutting hedge, high profile exhibitions dedicated to contemporary art and social issues, with nationally and internationally renowned architects and designers, and top stylists who have influenced tastes and customs.

A store and a gallery dedicated to avantgarde design located in an historical building in the Magenta district - formerly an ex tie and foulard factory. Rossana Orlandi has forecasted for 8 years some of the most interesting young talents in design from all over the world. In the gallery you can find a selection of limited edition and unique pieces from artists like Nacho Carbonell and Maarten Baas.