Milano is the main city of northern Italy and is located in the plains of Lombardy. The city proper has about 1,308,500 inhabitants and the population of greater Milan is estimated to be about 4,280,820. So, judging by population, Milan would be Italy's largest city. The city is one of the world's major commercial and financial centers, and one of the wealthiest cities in the European Union. Milan is also one of the world capitals of fashion and the world's leader in design. The via Montenapoleone is famous for its shops and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo is said to be the world's oldest shopping mall.
A famous Milanese product is panettone, the traditional, sweet, Christmas cake that people can buy everywhere in the world today. Milan is also famous for manufacturing the Alfa Romeo sportscar.
The city is the seat of the Italian Stock Exchange (la Borsa Italiana) and the new Exhibition Center (Fiera Milano) which opened in April 2005 and is the largest trade fair complex in the world. Milan has many landmark buildings but the most famous would be the Duomo, the second largest cathedral in the world. Situated on the main square in the center of the city, the Duomo di Milano is the symbol for Milan and houses the world's largest collection of marble statues. Milan's Duomo is the world's second largest Roman Catholic cathedral and this may be hard to believe, but a total of 40,000 people can fit comfortably within it.
Milan is one of the most important centers in the world for opera and opera lovers all over the world make a special trip to see and hear opera performed at the famous Teatro alla Scala, also more familiarly called La Scala. Thousands of visitors also come to see Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper which is painted on the wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie, another of Milan's churches
Soccer is the most important sport in Italy and Milan is home to two world-famous soccer teams: A.C. Milan and Internazionale. The former is usually referred to as "Mělan" the latter as "Inter." Milan is the only city in Europe whose teams have won both the European Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.