Piazza San Babila is a city square in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, 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 h ...

, Italy. The square had always existed as a "largo" since

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times, as the road to Bergamo would cross the walls of the Roman city. In

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

times as the city expanded beyond its Roman walls the homonymous

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

was founded, and the largo became an important crossroad in the city's intricated road network. Corsia dei Servi (now Corso Vittorio Emanuele II), corsia di san Damiano (now Corso Monforte), corso di Porta Orientale (now Corso Venezia), Contrada del Durino (now via Durini), Contrada del monte (now Corso di Montenapoleone) all used to cross here. Subsequently, from 1931 to 1948 the largo was widened and officially became a "

Piazza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

", the old buildings were demolished and new ones were built in their place, including the

Snia Viscosa Tower The Snia Viscosa Tower ( it, Torre Snia Viscosa) is a skyscraper in Milan, Italy. History The building, commissioned by the Italian chemical company Snia Viscosa, was designed by Italian architect Alessandro Rimini. Construction works began in ...

, Milan's first skyscraper. The only building that survived the radical renovation of the largo was the basilica, which still stands today. New streets were opened such as Corso Matteotti in 1927 and Corso Europa in the 1960s. Nowadays the streets meeting in San Babila and the contiguous Largo Arturo Toscanini are, anticlockwise from the bottom, Corso Europa, via Durini, via Borgogna, Corso Monforte, Corso Venezia, via Bagutta, Corso Matteotti and finally Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.

References

Piazzas in Milan {{Italy-stub