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 Interactive map of Via Monte Napoleone | |
| Former name | Monte Napoleone |
| Namesake | Monte Camerale di Santa Teresa, a bank located on the street |
| Type | Public |
| Maintained by | City of Milan |
| Length | 350 m (1,150 ft) |
| Area | Quadrilatero della Moda |
| Location | Milan, Italy |
| Postal code | 20121 |
| Nearest metro station | Montenapoleone,San Babila |
| Coordinates | 45°28′06″N9°11′43″E / 45.46826°N 9.19520°E /45.46826; 9.19520 |
| West end | Via Alessandro Manzoni |
| East end | Corso Giacomo Matteotti |
| Other | |
| Known for | High fashion boutiques |
Via Monte Napoleone, also spelledVia Montenapoleone, is anupscale shopping street inMilan,Italy, and the most expensive street in the world (2024).[1] It is famous for itsready-to-wearfashion andjewelry shops, and for being the most important street of the Milan fashion district known as theQuadrilatero della moda, where many well-knownfashion designers have high-end boutiques. The most exclusive Italian shoemakers maintain boutiques on this street.
In 2009, architectFabio Novembre designed a months-long art installation, titledPer fare un albero, "To make a tree", in conjunction with the city of Milan's Department of Design, Events and Fashion and Fiat — featuring 20 full-size fiberglass planter replicas of the company's500C cabriolet along Via Monte Napoleone.[2]
In 2002, the Street Association started a media project[3] including the Radio and the Portal, in order to relaunch theMade in Italy brand. Sponsored by the Department of Fashion, Tourism and Major Events of the Municipality of Milan, Italy Fashion System, and Assomoda, today it is the first instrument of revival and information on Made in Italy worldwide.
The street traces the Roman city walls erected by EmperorMaximian. In 1783, a financial institution known as the Monte Camerale di Santa Teresa opened there in Palazzo Marliani, with the function of managing the public debt. In 1786 the street itself was named after themonte.[4] The bank was closed in 1796 but re-opened in 1804, when Milan was capital of the NapoleonicItalian Republic, as the Monte Napoleone: from this the street derived its current name. During the first part of the 19th century the street was almost entirely rebuilt in theNeoclassical manner with palaces inhabited by the highest of the aristocracy. Notable buildings from this period arePalazzo Melzi di Cusano,Palazzo Gavazzi,Palazzo Carcassola Grandi, andPalazzetto Taverna. The much earlier Palazzo Marliani however, regarded as one of the finest houses to survive from the era of theSforza, was preserved until its destruction during the Allied bombing campaign of 1943.[5][6][7][8]
AfterWorld War II, Via Monte Napoleone became one of the leading streets in international fashion, somewhat equivalent toParis'Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré,Rome'sVia Condotti,London'sBond Street andSloane Street,Los Angeles'Rodeo Drive,Florence'sVia de' Tornabuoni, Berlin'sKurfürstendamm and New York'sFifth Avenue.[citation needed]
Caffè Cova, founded in 1817 and one of the city's oldestcafés and confectioners, relocated to Via Monte Napoleone in 1950 from its original premises next to theTeatro alla Scala.[9]
Media related toVia Monte Napoleone (Milan) at Wikimedia Commons
