Alessandro Manzoni is one of the most important writers of Italian literature, born in Milan in 1785. His father, Pietro Manzoni, was a rich land owner from Lecco, and his mother, Giulia Beccaria, was daughter of the famous jurist Cesare Beccaria.
His passion for poetry began since his childhood days in Milan. His interest covers almost all literature species from poetry, sonnets, poems and novels.
As Milanese by birth he was closely connected to the city of Milan, considered one of the greatest and most creative writers of the nineteenth century. His greatest success has been achieved with novels with historical background.
His masterpiece is The Betrothed (in Italian – I promessi sposi), an Italian historical novel, the work which best represents the Italian Unification. The novel was published twice, the first time in 1823 and after the revision made by author personally, its final version was published between 1840 and 1842.
The events in the novel are set in Italy in year 1628, during the Spanish occupation. It was the first example of historical novel in Italian literature. The setting had been selected by Manzoni himself with the actual intention to refer to the Austrian-Hungarian domination over Northern Italy.
The happenings in this novel are closely related to Milan city and historical events of the 17th Century, mostly the ones referring to the plague that struck Milan between 1629 and 1631.
On The Traces Of Alessandro Manzoni In Milan
As many others famous people who have lived in Milan such as Leonardo Da Vinci or Giuseppe Verdi, Manzoni also left some important visible traces in the city. Some of them are easily traceable from the facts narrated in his most important literary work and writer’s life and character.
Casa Manzoni And Museum
If you decide to follow his traces in Milan (you can take a pleasant walking tour), it’s quite normal to start from the places which were part of his life, where he live and worked.
This is a house of Manzoni where he lived with his family from 1814 to 1873. Today there is museum, in Via Morone, where everything seems to be as it was when he lived there.
The Manzoni Museum is located in two rooms overlooking the garden on the ground floor and in six rooms on the first floor: the original furnishing and ornaments have all been entirely preserved.
The Bronze Statue Of Manzoni
The bronze monument to Alessandro Manzoni stands at Piazza San Fedele. Built in 1883, 10 years after the writer’s death. It’s placed in a significant location linked to many episodes of the writer’s life.Behind the monument there is a church of San Fedele, built in 1569 by Carlo Borromeo.
This church being not far away from Manzoni House in Via Morone n°1, was Alessandro Manzoni’s parish church.Both sights are very close to Piazza Duomo, just pass through Vittorio Emanuele Gallery and passing next to Milan Tourist Office, turn on right immediately and you are there. It can also be reached by metro MM1 (red) and MM3 (yellow) Duomo stop; Tram number 1, 2, 3, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 23, 24, 27; bus 54.
Basilica di San Marco
In 1874, in the church of San Marco in Brera, the Requiem conducted by Giuseppe Verdi was celebrated on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni.
Monumental Cemetery
Milan monumental cemetery isn’t just an ordinary cemetery. Beside of its monumental size it’s a kind of outdoor museum where many famous personalities were buried.
The cemetery is comprised of three distinct zones: the central one hosts the tombs of catholic families and persons, that to the right facing the facade, is reserved for Jewish persons, while the left is dedicated to non-Catholics.
To help visitors, there are some maps that indicater the indications of the most interesting monuments. In Memorial Chapel made of bricks and marble in Neo-medieval style where, amongst other personages, Alessandro Manzoni is buried.
How to get there by:
- Bus: 94
- Tram: 2 – 4 – 10 – 12 – 14 – 33
- Metro – line M2 (green line) stationGaribaldi and M5 (lilac line) stationMonumentale.
The Manzoni Theater
The Manzoni Theater was founded 1870 and has been dedicated to Alessandro Manzoni since 1873. Located in the centre of Milan, in the heart of the fashion district, a short distance from Via Montenapoleone and Piazza della Scala, the theateras it appears today was designed in 1950.
The Manzoni Theaterwas the first in Europe to be electrically lit from a central distribution station, and is among the most prestigious Italian theaters. The address of the theater is Via Alessandro Manzoni, 42.
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