Consider that the Montanelli Gardens, also known to the Milanese as the Porta Venezia Gardens, were the first public gardens ever in Milano. Inaugurated in 1784, they are surrounded by and imbued with culture. Within the park, you can find the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale (Natural History Museum) and the Planetarium.

Just outside the gardens are GAM, the Galleria d’Arte Moderna (Modern Art Gallery), with its modern art masterpieces, and PAC (Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea), a pavilion for contemporary art exhibits.

The longest shopping street in Europe: a quintessentially commercial thoroughfare extending itself from the Bastioni di Porta Venezia to Piazzale Loreto for about 1.5 km, splitting the neighbourhood into two parts. On one side the colours and the liveliness of the LGBTQ+ area, which stands on the former Lazzaretto (plague hospital) mentioned by writer Alessandro Manzoni in his masterwork, The Betrothed. 

On the other the history of art nouveau and contemporary Milano on the facades of palaces and buildings.

Whether you are looking for clothes, leather items, accessories, or a good coffee, Corso Buenos Aires surely will not let you down. You will definitely find something to your taste and for your budget.

The area has been a hotspot of LGBTQ+ culture for many years.

During the ‘80s the first gay-friendly pubs and meeting places opened right here, and in the past few years  Porta Venezia’s Bastioni have become the backdrop to many Gay Pride celebrations: these are always preceded by a month of colourful events and parties all over the neighbourhood. 

LGTBQ+ hangouts share these streets with Eritrean and Ethiopian restaurants and bars, which have chosen this part of the city as their own. Both Milanese and visitors cherish the opportunity to experience the tastes and scents of East Africa, the original homeland to a large and busy city community.

Colours and liveliness are two words that best define this multicultural hub.

Have you ever dreamed of living in a museum? It is a wish that Mr. and Mrs. Boschi-Di Stefano, art collectors that lived together through a large part of the 20th century, fulfilled by turning their house into a spectacular gallery of Italian Modernism.

Their former home provides the chance to admire a selection from the vast collection of masterpieces that they selected through the decades. Only a few of the most famous artists: Severini, Boccioni, Funi, Marussig, Tozzi, Carrà and Casorati.

Between the 19th and the 20th century all Europe was pervaded by the exquisite taste of Art Nouveau, which influenced figurative arts and architecture with its intricate motifs inspired by flowers and nature in all its forms.

In Milano, this artistic movement finds its highest expression in the Porta Venezia area.

Admire Casa Galimberti, with its painted tiles; the opulence of Palazzo Castiglioni; Casa Campanini and its majestic and romantic portal.

To to this day, many buildings in the area look unmistakably back to the heyday of Art Nouveau, and it is possible to walk along streets where bars, cafés and small bistros conjure up dreams of the old times.