The first time I heard of Lombardy it was very small. My mother liked to read us the storybook "Corazón", by Edmundo D'Amicci, a veritable compendium of tearful stories that made her cry a lot in front of her three daughters. It's rare to see a mother cry, isn't it? But any of these stories was a drama that spoke not only of personal stories but also of the formation of the Italian state. An inhabitant of the Apennines, a young Florentine writer, a Lombard lookout and the list of tragic protagonists continued.
As I was saying, it was then that I first heard of Lombardy. Lombardy is one of the twenty regions of Italy and its capital is the city of Milan. It is the most populated and richest region in the country and one of the richest in all of Europe. In addition, it concentrates many of the best tourist destinations in Italy because here is the beautiful Lake Como, Lake Garda, Maggiore or the cities of Pavia, Como, Bergamo or Monza, just to name a few. Lombardy borders Switzerland, has high mountains and plains. It enjoys a continental climate and according to archaeological findings it was populated by the Etruscan civilization, by the Celts and by the Romans. With the fall of the Roman Empire came numerous barbarian invasions and of them the most effective was that of the Lombards who arrived around AD 570, baptizing the region forever.
Today so many centuries of history are concentrated not only on the landscape but also on the number of museums there are: 330 more or less, including museums of history, science, ethnography, art and natural science. Lombardy is land of The Last Supper, of the beautiful Palacio Te, the Milan Cathedral, the Castello Sforzesco and the Brera Gallery, among many others. In addition, it is the land of the best cuisine and the best wines. Are you not going to meet her?
Photo: via About.com