The Grand Hotel et de Milan is a luxury hotel located in the centre of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The construction was commissioned to architect Andrea Pizzala (1798–1862) and was inspired by the neo-Gothic movement. Inaugurated in 1863, it offered services fitting of a grand hotel of the capital of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia: postal and telegramming services, as well as a hydraulic elevator. It was just a short carriage ride from La Scala Theatre, renowned amongst composers, musicians, singers and music lovers who simply coined the hotel "the Milan". Near the end of the 19th century, the hotel gained significant importance as it was frequented by diplomats and businessmen. The hotel rose to prominence in 1872 when composer

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

established his residence in one of the suites, where he needed the privacy to work at the famous opera house

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

. His suite, perfectly preserved to the present day, resembled his study at his Sant'Agata home, outside Piacenza. The building was completely refurbished in 1931 and equipped with tap water and telephones in every room. In 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the hotel was bombed, and the fourth floor was destroyed; in 1946, after the war, architect

Giovanni Muzio Giovanni Muzio (12 February 1893 – 21 May 1982) was an Italian architect. Muzio was born and died in Milan. He was closely associated with the Novecento Italiano artists group. Biography The son of Virginio Muzio, an accomplished architec ...

was engaged to restore and renovate the building. The hotel was popular with fashion designers in the 1960s and 1970s when Milan began hosting annual

fashion week A fashion week is a week-long fashion industry event where fashion designers, brands, or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media which influences upcoming fashion trends for the current and appro ...

s. In an early 1990s renovation, a defence wall dating back to the 3rd century was brought to light and featured in one of the hotel's restaurants.

Notable guests

Famous people who have stayed at the hotel include: *

* ''Dom'' Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil * Teresa Cristina, Empress of Brazil *

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

Fred Gaisberg Frederick William Gaisberg (1 January 1873 – 2 September 1951) was an American musician, recording engineer and one of the earliest classical music producers for the gramophone. He did not use the term 'producer', and was not an impresario like ...

Tamara de Lempicka Tamara Łempicka (; 16 June 1894 – 18 March 1980), known outside Poland as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art Deco portraits of aristocr ...

Maria Callas Maria Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised ...

Severino Gazzelloni Severino Gazzellone (5 January 1919 – 21 November 1992), known as Severino Gazzelloni, was an Italian flutist. Biography He was born in Roccasecca and died in Cassino. Gazzelloni was the principal flautist with the RAI National Symphony Or ...

* Giorgio Jegher *

Vittorio de Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Hotels in Milan 1863 establishments in Italy Hotels established in 1863