Milan
Milan is an Italian city and the capital of the region of Lombardy as well as of the province Milan. It’ s one of the most important centres for business and finance and it is the world’s fashion and design capital (together with Paris, London and New York). Milan is also the most important centre of a trade fairs system of Europe and it has got most of the consulates in the world after New York. It is the second most populated city in Italy after Rome. The Milan metropolitan area is the largest in Italy. The city was founded by the Insubres, a Celtic nation in the 4th century BC. Later, Milan was ruled by the Visconti, the Sforza, the Spanish in the 1500s and the Austrians in the 1700s. During its history it had several roles, for example as capital of the Roman Empire, being the most important political centre during the Renaissance, and capital of the kingdom of Italy during the Napoleon period. Now the city is the centre of an important urban and architectural change. The city of Milan is subdivided into 9 administrative zones, called Zona.