This is the street of shop windows of luxury and elegance. Here the best labels can be found, as well as jewellery and brand watches. In short, this is the living symbol of "Made in Italy" that attracts visitors and tourists from every part of the world. The street, in substance, is synonymous with richness, good taste and elegance. It is the principal door of all the great stylists. The shop windows in this street are the reflection of a world that is in continuous renewal and it is always on show upon occasion of the great fashion parades organised in the city. It is during these events, during the period of great fashion shows, that the streets of the "Fashion Quad" are graced by models from all over the world, the emblem of style and beauty. In the shops of Via Montenapoleone, the shop assistants splendidly assume the role of actors: attractive, polite and full of consideration for their curious and often demanding customers. The jet-set here finds a calling that cannot be denied. They are attracted by labels, the Milanese ambience and climate and the aesthetic flair that is always dynamic and current and permeates this unique corner of the world.Via Montenapoleone which, nowadays, sparkles with its alluring window displays, is located on the route of the old Roman walls from the third century AD.
Its name derives from the eponymous financial institution, which was located in the current N. 12, built in Napoleonic times to manage the public debt.
The lives of many important characters are linked to Via Montenapoleone in Milan, as can be seen by names and the plaques on some of the old buildings.
Tommaso Grossi, the notary, poet and writer lived and died in N. 1. Opposite, in the neoclassical Palazzo Taverna, Milan’s greatest poet, Carlo Porta, lived and died in 1821 and, in 1901, King Vittorio Emanuele opened the first Italian Automobile Club headquarters in the street.
Palazzo Marliani, at N. 12, was one of the most sumptuous residences of the city, restored by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini. Completely rebuilt in the 1900’s by the architect Balossi to host the Reale Compagnia di Assicurazione, it was not appreciated by the Milanese who, in dialect, coined the term baloss which means "scoundrel".
Approaching Via Manzoni we come across Palazzo Melzi, and the Canonica di San Francesco di Paola, a former convent suppressed in the 1800’s: these locations were frequented by Giuseppe Verdi who it is believed composed Nabucco on the large organ.
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