The Passenger ⋆ Page 2 of 324 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

January 2, 2026January 2, 2026

Pinacoteca di Brera

The Pinacoteca di Brera stands as one of Milano’s great cultural treasures, housed in a former Jesuit college that became a key site in the city’s artistic and intellectual life. Its origins trace back to the late 18th century, during the Napoleonic era, when artworks confiscated from churches and noble collections across northern Italy were brought together to form a public gallery. This was part of a broader Enlightenment vision, seeking to make art accessible to citizens and scholars. Over time, the collection grew under the direction of major curators and benefactors, transforming Brera into the artistic heart of Milano.

January 1, 2026January 1, 2026

Torino

The city of Torino, or Turin in German and English, lies elegantly at the foot of the Alps where the Po river flows through the wide plains of northern Italy. It was the first capital of unified Italy in the 19th century and long before that, the seat of the powerful House of Savoy. The city carries itself with a regal grace, visible in its Baroque palaces, arcaded boulevards, and grand piazzas that reflect both French and Italian influences. Its grid-like street layout, unusual for an Italian city, owes much to 17th-century urban planning, which lends Torino a sense of order and grandeur reminiscent of Paris rather than Roma.

January 1, 2026January 1, 2026

Automobile

The Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile in Torino is one of Italy’s most fascinating and thoughtfully curated museums, offering a deep dive into the evolution of the car as both a technological marvel and a cultural symbol. Founded in 1932 by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, a passionate pioneer of Italian motoring culture, it stands as one of the world’s oldest automobile museums. The building itself, redesigned in the early 21st century, presents an elegant, modern structure along the river Po. Its architecture mirrors the spirit of the exhibits within – combining history, innovation, and motion into a seamless narrative that reflects Torino’s enduring connection to the automobile industry.

January 1, 2026January 1, 2026

Museo Egizio

The Museo Egizio in Torino ranks among the most remarkable collections of Egyptian antiquities outside of Egypt itself. It was founded in the early 19th century, stemming from the Savoy family’s fascination with the ancient world and their patronage of archaeological study. Over time, it grew under the direction of notable Egyptologists such as Ernesto Schiaparelli, whose early 20th-century expeditions brought back an extraordinary wealth of artefacts. The museum’s link to the intellectual and collecting culture of Enlightenment Europe, alongside its pioneering role in Egyptology, gives it a distinctly historical depth that few other museums can match.

January 1, 2026

Sindone di Torino

The Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista in Torino stands as one of the most remarkable examples of Renaissance church architecture in northern Italy. Built between 1491 and 1498 under the direction of Amedeo de Francisco di Settignano, known as Meo del Caprina, the cathedral replaced a cluster of medieval churches dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, the city’s patron saint. Its elegant façade of white marble, rare for Piedmont at the time, reflects the transition from Gothic to early Renaissance design, pairing classical balance with restrained ornamentation. In the late 17th century, the complex gained its most distinctive silhouette when Guarino Guarini added the magnificent Baroque chapel designed specifically to house one of Christianity’s most venerated relics – the Shroud of Torino.

December 31, 2025December 31, 2025

Navigli

It is one of Milano’s most atmospheric districts, known for its winding canals, artistic flair, and lively spirit that blends old-world charm with contemporary urban life. The area takes its name from the navigli – the historic network of canals designed between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries to connect Milano with Lago Maggiore, Lago di Como, and eventually the Po river. These waterways once made the inland city a thriving commercial hub, transporting goods and even the marble used to construct the Duomo. The system was an engineering marvel of its time, with Leonardo da Vinci contributing significantly to the design of the canal locks during his stay in Milano .

December 31, 2025January 1, 2026

Brescia

Often dubbed the ‘Lioness of Italy‘, Brescia rests quietly in the Lombardy region between Milano and Lago di Garda, yet carries a history as fierce as any of Italy’s more famous cities. Its origins reach back to pre-Roman times when it was a Celtic settlement, later transformed into a Roman colony under the name Brixia. The city’s archaeological remains from that era, including the Capitolium Temple and the Roman theatre, serve as a tangible reminder of Brescia’s status as one of northern Italy’s most important Roman centres. During the Middle Ages, it grew prosperous under the rule of various powers – Venetians, French, Austrians – each leaving architectural and cultural marks that blend into a remarkably layered urban fabric.

December 31, 2025January 1, 2026

Bergamo

The city of Bergamo is one of those Northern Italian cities that seem to balance elegance and authenticity in equal measure. Nestled at the foothills of the Alps in Lombardy, it has long served as a link between the plains of Milano and the mountain routes leading to the lakes and beyond. Its dual layout – Città Alta (the Upper Town) and Città Bassa (the Lower Town)– immediately captures the imagination. The medieval walls enclosing the old upper city stand in stark contrast to the modern avenues below, a physical reminder of centuries of transformation and resilience.

December 30, 2025December 30, 2025

Museo del Novecento

The Museo del Novecento, located in the Palazzo dell’Arengario on Piazza del Duomo, offers a fascinating journey through Italian art of the twentieth century. Its elegant modernist interior contrasts beautifully with the surrounding Gothic and Renaissance architecture, making it a highlight of cultural Milano. The museum’s layout encourages a chronological exploration of the century, beginning with the early avant-garde movements that set the tone for Italian modernism. Large windows overlook the Duomo, creating a dialogue between the art inside and the city’s monumental exterior.

December 30, 2025December 30, 2025

Ossario

San Bernardino alle Ossa sits quietly behind the Duomo area of Milano, yet its story reaches back to the twelfth century, when a cemetery linked to a nearby hospital began to run out of space and a separate chamber for exhumed bones was created in 1210. A small church was added beside this charnel house in the thirteenth century, then rebuilt and enlarged over the following centuries, especially after a devastating fire in 1712 led to an eighteenth‑century reconstruction with the Baroque façade seen today. From the outside it can seem like just another historic church in central Milano, but stepping inside reveals how closely the whole complex is tied to the themes of death, charity and the city’s medieval hospital culture.