Ca' de Sass and the Courtyards of the Cinque Vie: Medieval Milan

Everyone comes to Milan for the Duomo, the Galleria, perhaps the Last Supper booked months in advance. Very few, however, look up in front of the Ca' de Sass, on Via Monte di Pietà. The name in dialect means "house of stone", and one glance is enough to understand why: the whole facade is clad in large rusticated blocks of stone, in regular bands, like a Renaissance fortress dropped into the very centre.

The building was erected between 1868 and 1872 to a design by the architect Giuseppe Balzaretti, as the first seat of a great Lombard savings bank. The style is Neo-Renaissance, openly inspired by the Florentine palaces of the fifteenth century, Palazzo Strozzi above all. It is a piece of Florence in Milan, and almost no one stops to notice it because they are rushing towards Piazza Cordusio, a stone's throw away.

From here it is worth losing yourself on foot towards the Cinque Vie, the oldest quarter of the city, born where the Roman forum of Mediolanum once stood. The name comes from the point where five narrow streets converge: Via del Bollo, Via Santa Marta, Via Bocchetto, Via Santa Maria Fulcorina and Via Santa Maria Podone. It is a maze the traffic has forgotten, made of cobblestones, artisan workshops and half-open doorways.

The secret lies precisely in the courtyards. Pushing open the doors on Via Cappuccio, Via San Maurilio, Via Santa Marta and Via dei Piatti you find inner courts with loggias, columns and atmospheres you would not expect in Milan. Many are private, so they should be viewed with discretion and respect for the silence: people live and work here.

It is worth coming in the shoulder seasons, when the light cuts low between the walls and the Milanese are on their lunch break. No queues, no crowds: only a medieval and nineteenth-century city that goes on existing beneath the surface of the one everybody knows.

Related guides: Unusual Lombardy: hidden villages and little-known places far from Milan.

Getting there

The Cinque Vie quarter is in the historic heart of Milan, a short distance from the Duomo. It is reached by the M1 metro (Cordusio, Cairoli or Duomo stops) and by the M3 at Duomo, as well as several tram lines that cross the centre; Cadorna station, an interchange between M1/M2 and regional railways, is also close by. By car, bear in mind that the area is inside the centre's restricted-traffic zone. Milano Centrale is the main railway station, while the nearest airports are Linate, the closest, and Malpensa.

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