Where we are Doria Grand Hotel

The Milan Central Station, just 300 metres from the Doria Grand Hotel, in the heart of the city, an outstanding space among Europe's main rail terminals, served by all means of public transport and, now, also by high-speed trains, shines with new lustre.

A simple glance around is enough to grasp the new identity of the place, together with the ancient charm of this “Cathedral of  travel” designed by Ulisse Stacchini almost a century ago. A kaleidoscope of marble varieties and a series of restored monumental spaces, where natural and artificial light mingle to highlight friezes, bas-reliefs, decoration, vaults and original structures, enhance the character and energy of the newly added architectural features.

The work on Milan Central is one of the most important conservative restorations of civil architecture in Italy and takes on a fundamental role in view of the new high-speed rail transport modes and the Universal Exposition in 2015.

A total renovated area of 60,000 m2, 23,000 m2 of transit areas, 30,000 m2 designated for services, shopping and dining, 16 new mobile ramps, making a total of 530 linear metres, 23,000 m2 of restored vaults and canopies and over 11,000 m2 of new marble floors and walls, form the heart of this urban regeneration and the overall programme for the “rebirth” of the entire area around the railway station.

Corso Venezia is one of the most elegant streets in Milan. It forms part of the shopping area known as the "Fashion quadrilateral", together with Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga, Via Sant'Andrea and Via Manzoni. The area also features many Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical palaces, parks and gardens.

The Corso has several important buildings such as Palazzo Serbelloni and Villa Reale, and the Public Gardens also extend along the street. The Natural History Museum of Milan is located in the Public Gardens.

The Indro Montanelli Public Gardens, in the Porta Venezia area, are one of the city's most beautiful parks. It was the first park in Milan specifically intended for public recreation. For over two centuries, it was simply known as the Public Gardens, Porta Venezia Gardens or simply the Gardens, and these names are still widely used.

Within the enclosure of the gardens are the Ulrico Hoepli Civic Planetarium, designed by the architect Pietro Portaluppi in 1929; the Natural History Museum of Milan, designed in 1892 by Giovanni Ceruti; Palazzo Dugnani, which was built in 1600, modified and restored in 1700, and has belonged to the Municipality since 1800. There are numerous monuments to 19th-century figures, both from Milan and elsewhere, as well as Vito Tongiani’s recent statue of Indro Montanelli, to whose memory the gardens were dedicated in 2002.

There has been a Chinese area for several decades between via Canonica, Procaccini, Ceresio, Montello and C.M. Maggi. This is the famous Chinatown of the Paolo Sarpi zone, named after its main street, with a wealth of clothing and craftwork stores, restaurants and takeaways managed by Chinese. The district is a true example of multiculturalism, and Chinese residents have lived here since 1920.
 
Craft objects, clothing, teas and much more can be found at very reasonable prices in the area’s many Made-in-China stores. A stroll through these streets, filled with signs written in characters and the fragrance of spices wafting from restaurants, is a real experience of a piece of modern China in Milan. Chinese New Year is a very colourful and enjoyable festival in which Italian flags can also be seen alongside Chinese ones.

The Fashion quadrilateral is an imaginary square composed of four streets in the centre of Milan.
Numerous shops and fashion houses of the most important labels in fashion are concentrated in this area.
The quadrilateral is enclosed by via Montenapoleone, via Manzoni, via della Spiga and corso Venezia.
It also includes the internal streets, via Borgospesso, via Santo Spirito, via Gesù, via Sant'Andrea and via Bagutta.

Porta Nuova. This is the new identity of the major urban transformation project involving the three Milanese districts of Garibaldi Repubblica, Varesine and Isola.

The new district will have space for offices, housing, shopping areas, services, meeting places, cultural centres, creative laboratories, a large exhibition area, greenery and public spaces, as well as the institutional centre that will house the new offices of the Municipality of Milan and the new headquarters of the Region of Lombardy. Of a 360,000 m2, total area, 90,000 m2 are intended for green areas, with more than 1500 trees, 160,000 m2 for a pedestrian area, with 2 kilometres of cycle paths, and 20,000 m2 for cultural areas, including libraries, exhibition spaces, and areas for recreation and for children.

Corso Buenos Aires: the Kingdom of Shopping.

Corso Buenos Aires, the important shopping street, was known when it first opened in 1782 as “strada regia Loreto” (the main Loreto road), as it led to the 17th-century Sanctuary of the Madonna of Loreto. With the creation of the Loreto roundabout (1838), the street became an important entry route to the city from the north.

Today, the Corso is an uninterrupted succession of shop windows, with a kilometre and a half of shops to suit all tastes.

The city offers a large variety of buildings, monuments and museums. Its most important church is the Cathedral, or "Il Duomo", the third largest church in the world. It is decorated entirely in marble, with statues, archers, pillars and huge pinnacles, and offers a beautiful view from its roof. Santa Maria delle Grazie was built between 1466 and 1490, and modified by Bramante. The dining hall houses one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most important paintings: "The Last Supper".

Milan has many historical palaces, such as Palazzo Reale, located in the area to the south of Piazza Duomo. The Castello Sforzesco is one of the city's symbols, together with the Madonnina and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. All these works of art together provided just a few of the reasons why a visit to Milan is well worthwhile.

Milan is an important financial centre: the main Italian and foreign banks have a presence here and Piazza Affari is worth a visit. All the new design and fashion trends find their natural development through the important Polytechnic and the shopping streets of the quadrilateral, Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga, Via S.Andrea and Corso Buenos Aires.