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Telegraph
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The 19 best things to do in Milan
Although renowned for its high-end shopping and cutting-edge design, Milan offers many more things to do: its museums harbour some of the country's finest works of art, and there's no shortage of churches adorned with wonderful frescoes, a number from the school of Leonardo da Vinci. Steps away from the gothic-style Duomo is La Scala, the country's most-famous opera house where Bellini, Rossini and Verdi premiered their works. A big plus for tourists is that Milan's relatively compact size means the centre can easily be explored on foot. Wander unplanned in the city's narrow cobbled streets and you'll discover a vibrant cosmopolitan city with plenty of charm and character. All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best things to do in Milan. Find out more below, or for more inspiration, see our guides to the city's best hotels, restaurants, bars and shopping. Find things to do by type: Best for art Best for fashion Best for design Best for Milanese culture Best for families Best free things to do Best for art Museo del Novecento Admire 20th-century works of art alongside panoramic views The collection of the wonderful Museo del Novecento begins with Italian Futurism, before moving on to the Avant-garde, with works by Kandinsky, Picasso and Modigliani. The top floor displays works by Lucio Fontana, while a glass bridge connects to the Palazzo Reale, housing art from the 1960s to 1990s. Insider tip: Sala Fontana's floor-to-ceiling windows offer sublime views of the Duomo – it's a striking setting, with regular music performances held here periodically too. Check the website for details.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
How to style out a weekend in Milan
Lying at the foot of the Alps, Milan is Italy's financial hub and economic driver, home to the country's Stock Exchange. It is also Italy's most cosmopolitan city, with a modern central district dominated by skyscrapers and a pretty historical quarter lined with palazzi (palaces) – each harbouring wonderful hidden courtyards. Leader of Italy's fashion and design industry, Milan is replete with snazzy boutiques, haute couture stores and showrooms displaying the latest in Italian design. It's also a historic city – home to the magnificent Duomo and scores of wonderful art galleries, museums and churches. Its dining and nightlife scenes rank among the country's most vibrant. Bars line the city's famous Navigli canals – said to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci, who called the city his home for a number of years. When the work day's over, Milanesi congregate at bars throughout the city for aperitivo – drinks and small bites – before heading home for their evening meal. For more Milan inspiration, see our guides to the city's best hotels, things to do, restaurants, bars and nightlife, and shopping. In this guide: How to spend your weekend Day one: morning Start the day at Milan's vast Gothic-style Duomo, which stands majestically in Piazza Duomo. Catch the lift to the rooftop terraces and see elaborate spires and statues up close as you enjoy 360-degree views of the city. Once you're back on terra firma, stroll through the sumptuous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy's oldest shopping centre that is today an architectural marvel, with its impressive dome and gleaming marble floors. Visit the Gallerie d'Italia and admire 19th- and 20th-century works, making sure you take a stroll round the leafy interior courtyard, which once belonged to writer Alessandro Manzoni. If contemporary art is more your thing, don't miss the excellent Museo del Novecento on Piazza Duomo. Next, stroll the artistic quarter of Brera, stopping to browse independent boutiques, art galleries and quirky stores. For lunch, tuck into Italian favourites at Casa Fiori Chiari, a sophisticated neighbourhood restaurant giving onto a pretty pedestrianised street, or try Trattoria del Ciumbia on the same stretch, which serves Milanese favourites in a 1960s-style trattoria setting.
The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
World's best holiday cities revealed and three of them are only two hours from the UK
THREE of the world's best cities are just a few hours away from the UK, offering sun and beautiful sights. Florence, Seville and Porto all won big at the Travel + Leisure Awards 2025 - and you can get to all three of them in just over two hours from the UK. 7 7 Travel + Leisure readers voted for their favourite worldwide cities, and Florence came in at number 11 with a reader score of 90.08 out of 100. Voters praised the capital of Tuscany for its shopping, quality of hotels as well as artistic treasures. There was an honourable mention of the Ponte Vecchio for its incredible views. Florence is considered a romantic city, full of beautiful architecture like the Duomo cathedral, which has its own piazza. It's the ideal destination for art lovers too as its home to work by Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci. Just because it's a hub of culture, doesn't mean that it's necessarily costly. In fact in Florence you can pick up slices for pizza for €1.50 (£1.30) and pasta dishes from €5 (£4.33). Florence is 80 miles inland, but you could still be at the beach in an hour and a half. Or even head over to Pisa which is an hour and a half by both car and rail. One Sun Travel writer travelled to Florence where she tried olive oil tasting, and checked out the famous sites. You can fly directly from London Gatwick to Florence in two hours 25 minutes. San Sebastian cider season 7 7 Seville came in twelfth place with a reader score of 89.49. It was described as offering a "window on thousands of years of history" with its best site being Alcázar Palace. The Spanish city is famous for its Cathedral and Plaza de España. It's also famous for tapas, Seville orange trees and the traditional art of flamenco - if you're lucky, you'll catch some dancers in the street. Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey visited the city earlier this year - and ventured out on a secret food tour in the southern district of Triana. For anyone wanting to visit Seville Cathedral, Kara discovered 100 free tickets are given out at a certain time of day. You can fly directly from London Gatwick to Seville in two hours 40 minutes. 7 7 Porto, in the northwest of Portugal, is little but packs a punch. The colourful city came in 24th place on the list of Top 25 best cities - and was awarded a reader score of 88.24. Porto is filled with restaurants and bars and, of course, is known for its port wine production. Readers of Travel + Leisure said they love the city because of it's "wine-soaked culture". Porto is found on the River Douro where visitors can take a boat trip or even head down it on a kayak. When one writer visited last year, he couldn't get enough of the custard tarts, or pastel de nata, which he said you can pick up on every street for around €1. And of course there are vineyards aplenty and an opportunity to do tastings all around the city. Brits can fly directly to Porto from several UK airports, including London Gatwick, which takes two hours 20 minutes. Here are 20 of Europe's most beautiful islands that have direct flights from the UK - with the world's best beaches. Plus, the European city with £15 flights that feels like 'going to Japan without the cost'. 7
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hidden Detail in Crotch Solves 500-Year-Old Leonardo Da Vinci Mystery
Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath who painted the Mona Lisa, had a sophisticated geometric understanding way ahead of his time. To draw the Vitruvian Man in 1490 – an illustration of the 'ideal' human body – the Renaissance man may have relied on a mathematical ratio not formally established until the 19th century. It's one of the most iconic images of all time, and yet for more than 500 years, no one could figure out why da Vinci chose such specific proportions for the arms and legs. A London dentist thinks he's solved the mystery at last. Related: Rory Mac Sweeney has found a crucial hidden detail, tucked in the Vitruvian Man's crotch: an equilateral triangle that he thinks may explain "one of the most analyzed yet cryptic works in art history." The Vitruvian Man is partly inspired by the writings of Roman architect Vitruvius, who argued that the perfect human body should fit inside a circle and square. Da Vinci's drawing uses a square to precisely contain a 'cruciform pose', with arms outstretched and legs in. The circle, meanwhile, encompasses a posture where the arms are raised and the legs are spread. A popular explanation is that da Vinci chose the Vitruvian Man's proportions based on the Golden Ratio Theory, but the measurements don't quite match up. According to Mac Sweeney, "the solution to this geometric mystery has been hiding in plain sight". "If you open your legs… and raise your hands enough that your extended fingers touch the line of the top of your head… the space between the legs will be an equilateral triangle," da Vinci wrote in his notes for the Vitruvian Man. When Mac Sweeney did the math on this triangle, he found that the spread of the man's feet and the height of his navel created a ratio of around 1.64 to 1.65. That's very close to the tetrahedral ratio of 1.633 – a uniquely balanced geometric form, officially established in 1917. The ratio is used to establish the optimum way to pack spheres. If four spheres are connected as closely as possible into a pyramid shape, for instance, then the height to base ratio from their centers will be 1.633. Perhaps Mac Sweeney recognized the significance of that number because of a similar triangular principle used in dentistry. Imagined on the human jaw, Bonwill's triangle dictates the optimal positioning for jaw function, used since 1864. Its ratio is also 1.633. Mac Sweeney doesn't think that's a coincidence. Similar to minerals, crystals, and other biological packing systems found in nature, Mac Sweeney thinks the human jaw naturally organizes around tetrahedral geometries, which maximize mechanical efficiency. If the tetrahedral ratio is repeated around our bodies, Mac Sweeney thinks that is because "human anatomy has evolved according to geometric principles that govern optimal spatial organization throughout the universe." If Mac Sweeney is right, Da Vinci may have stumbled across a universal principle while drawing the Vitruvian Man. "The same geometric relationships that appear in optimal crystal structures, biological architectures, and Fuller's coordinate systems seem to be encoded in human proportions," writes Mac Sweeney, "suggesting that Leonardo intuited fundamental truths about the mathematical nature of reality itself." Whether other scientists agree with Mac Sweeney remains to be seen, but the fact that da Vinci mentioned the equilateral triangle in his notes suggests that what lies between the Vitruvian man's legs is important. The study was published in the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. Related News Neanderthal 'Swiss Army Knife' Discovered in Belgian Cave 'Classic' Hymn Deciphered From Ancient Babylonian Library Ancient Neanderthal 'Fat Factory' Reveals How Advanced They Really Were Solve the daily Crossword
Telegraph
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Telegraph style book: Ll
L Ladies' Day: At Royal Ascot lamp post Land Rover: Company is Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Last Post: Not 'the Last Post' leakage: The amount lost by a leak Left, Right: Capitalised in politics. Left wing, Left-wingers left-field: Cliche, avoid legionnaires' disease Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons Leonardo da Vinci: Is Leonardo at subsequent references, never 'da Vinci' Levi's Liberal Democrats: Use Lib Dems in headlines, use in full on first mention in text, Lib Dems as a subsequent use is acceptable. Do not confuse it with the Liberal Party, which still exists as a small and separate entity Libération: French newspaper: note accent licence: noun. License: verb lifeboat like: Use 'such as' when giving examples 'He enjoys hobbies such as cycling and photography' likeable likely: Is widely used incorrectly to mean 'probably' Lilliput limousine: 'limo' is tabloid linage: For number of lines; lineage for ancestry linchpin: Person or thing essential to a plan or organisation Lloyds Bank, Lloyd's (insurance). Lloyd's Register: Lloyd's is not an insurance company. It does not write insurance itself but provides a market in which its members do so Lloyd Webber. The family name is unhyphenated, the peerage, Lloyd-Webber, is. In culture pieces we would usually say Andrew Lloyd Webber rather than Lord Lloyd-Webber loathe (hate) but loath (disinclined, unwilling) Londonderry: Not Derry, unless in the name of something or a quote Lords Lieutenant: Not Lord Lieutenants Lords Justices Lord's (cricket) lorry: Prefer it to 'truck'. But if a motor company refers officially to a 'trucks division' we should conform lunch: Not luncheon except in formal social contexts Lutine bell: (For the bell at Lloyd's) Lycra
