The Construction of an Inland Gateway: Milan in the Course of the Early Modern Period

The contribution highlights the reasons that, from the Middle Ages and increasingly with the early modern period, have made Milan an extremely important inland gateway with very specific features. In the first part, the long-term reasons which led Milan to establish its role as an inland gateway will be discussed pointing out the presence of favourable environmental conditions, of a well-structured urban network exploiting a dense communication network, of a region which was economically diversified and vital. In the second part, the focus will be on the period between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, a period of very important changes which consolidated Milan’s role, i.e. the political reunification of the Lombard region after over three centuries of division and the advent of the railway.