Milan - Piazza Cordusio

The Largo Cairoli at the northwestern end of Via Dante is crossed by the broad Foro Buonaparte, which has a bronze equestrian statue of Garibaldi. From there the short Via Beltrami continues into the beautiful Piazza Castello.

South of Piazza Cordusio is the Palazzo dell'Ambrosiana (1603-09), with a famous library (700,000 printed volumes, 35,000 manuscripts, 2,000 incunabula) and an important picture gallery founded in 1618 by Cardinal-Archbishop Federico Borromeo (works by Leonardo da Vinci, including "Portrait of a Musician", and by Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, "Adoration of the Magi", Tiepolo and Caravaggio).

Southeast of the Palazzo dell'Ambrosiana is the little church of San Satiro (by Bramante; 1478 onwards), with an older campanile and a modern facade. The interior has a choir seen in perspective. The baptistery in the south aisle is a gem of Lombard Early Renaissance architecture by Bramante (1480-88). At the end of the north transept is the curious little domed Capella della Pietà (ninth century), decorated with terracotta ornaments and figures.