Via Manzoni

Brief information

Via Manzoni looks like a unified central street of Milan, but originally these were two different streets: Corsia del Giardino and Corso di Porta Nuova. This fact changes how the space is seen: the street should be perceived not as one straight shopping corridor, but as a stitched-together urban segment between the intersection with Via Monte Napoleone and Piazza Cavour.

Today Via Manzoni runs through the Fashion District, and the boutiques of renowned haute couture houses explain its status as one of the most expensive streets in the world. At the same time, the strongest historical point here is not a shop, but the Grand Hotel et de Milan: the hotel opened in 1863, was associated with the music-going public because of its proximity to La Scala, and it was here that Giuseppe Verdi died on January 27, 1901.

What to notice first

The main principle of visiting is to compare the shopping street with its cultural and memorial insertions. The boutiques show Via Manzoni’s modern role within the Fashion District, but the addresses from the source pull it away from the image of merely an expensive showcase. Number 12 is connected with the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, while number 29 is connected with the Grand Hotel et de Milan, where urban history unexpectedly converges with musical memory.

It also makes sense to notice the boundaries of the old division of the street: one part stretched to the intersection with Via Monte Napoleone, the other to Piazza Cavour. This helps read Via Manzoni as a connection of different urban directions. Near the modern transport point there is also a separate marker of time: after the opening of the Montenapoleone metro station in 1990, Aldo Rossi’s fountain was installed on Via Croce Rossa as a monument to Sandro Pertini.