The Visconti of Milan are a noble Italian family. They rose to power in Milan during the Middle Ages where they ruled from 1277 to 1447, initially as Lords then as Dukes, and several collateral branches still exist. The effective founder of the Visconti Lordship of Milan was the Archbishop Ottone, who wrested control of the city from the rival Della Torre family in 1277.
Depiction of the biscione swallowing a child, the coat of arms of the House of Visconti, on the Archbishop's palace in Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy
1 March 1162, Ottone Visconti is the first Milanese appearing in the list of authorities surrendering to the Barbarossa after the capitulation of the city (19th-century engraving)
21 January 1277, after the victory obtained against the Della Torre in Desio, Archbishop Ottone Visconti enters Milan (14th-century fresco in the Rocca Borromeo di Angera)
Petrarch lived in Milan from 1353 to 1361, providing first-hand accounts from the Visconti court in his letters (portrait by Altichiero da Verona)
Milan is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, and the second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has 3.22 million residents. The urban area of Milan is the fourth largest in the EU with 5.27 million inhabitants. According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area is estimated between 4.9 million and 7.4 million, making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the largest in the EU. Milan is the economic capital of Italy, one of the economic capitals of Europe and a global financial centre.
Image: Milan skyline skyscrapers of Porta Nuova business district (cropped)
Image: 20110725 Arco della Pace Milan 5617
Image: Facade Duomo Milan 2014 (9)
Image: Galleria Milano (179532365)
