If you are a football fan, you will undoubtedly know what San Siro represents for the world of sport and for the city of Milan.
We are talking about one of the temples of Italian football, around which, over the years, the neighborhood of the same name has arisen, offering various opportunities to those in love with one of the most loved sports in the world. Discovering San Siro means experiencing a different Milan than usual, with the possibility of leaving aside all the clichés linked to the Milan of fashion and design, in favor of something more dynamic and, perhaps, passionate.
Where to start, then? Once you arrive in the area it is a good idea to leave your suitcases at a luggage storage in Milan and enjoy the tour light and without encumbrances, perhaps while waiting for a good match of your favorite team at the aforementioned stadium.
Let’s find out what there is in San Siro and what are the best things to see in this area of the city; let’s leave aside the more sophisticated citylife, with its skyscrapers and elegant buildings, to immerse ourselves in a place where the tradition of European Milan remains very strong, even if… only in the championship!
Everything you always wanted to know about the stadium
Let’s clearly start from the protagonist of the neighborhood: the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in San Siro. A true symbolic place of the neighborhood, and home of both Inter and Milan, the stadium was built in 1926 and represented, for its time, an avant-garde among sports buildings, capable of holding over 35 thousand spectators.
Over the decades the stadium has been modernized several times, also thanks to the move of Inter Milan from the then Arena Civica to the Meazza for home matches. During the 1960s the stadium had the capacity for over 100 thousand spectators, but this was not its last evolution.
In fact, the bulk of the work was done during 1987, for the restoration in view of the World Cup in Italy in 1990; with these works, the stadium has reached its current form; for many it is one of the most important stadiums in the entire football universe, with very rich tradition and history, capable of equaling names such as the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro or some of the most famous English stadiums.
The San Siro Museum
Inside the Giuseppe Meazza there is not only a large football pitch and all the necessary services to allow one hundred thousand spectators to enjoy the matches to the fullest, but there is also a great historical and cultural route.
The San Siro Museum, in fact, despite its small and almost Spartan nature if we consider the caliber of the teams that animate its rooms, welcomes over 25,000 tourists every month and is a place of worship for many fans. Inside the rooms of the museum the history of the facility is retraced, with exhibitions regarding the very rich palmares of both Inter and Milan. There is also no shortage of numerous memorabilia collected by the two teams during their practically centuries-old careers, without forgetting some celebratory objects linked to non-football events, such as gigantic concerts or visits by the Pope.
Not just football at San Siro
We can undoubtedly consider San Siro as the most important temple of sport in the city of Milan, but the neighborhood also offers much more.
Very often mentioned in lists of vintage Milan there is also the city racecourse, known above all by the name of Ippodromo del Galoppo. Built just before the First World War, in 1913, this racecourse was for several decades the main national, if not global, horse racing facility.
The elegant grandstands and gigantic green spaces linked to the racecourse are much less popular today than they once were, but this has not stopped the city from reclaiming the spaces by transforming what was once a riding track, where insults and bets flowed, into a large area cultural, where in summer it is possible to enjoy concerts by international names with cheap tickets.
What few people remember, then, is that the walls of the hippodrome are full of beautiful murals. These were sponsored by the municipality of Milan, allowing many writers and street artists to unleash their creativity on walls that would otherwise have remained sadly bare.
Walking around the walls of the building it is possible to find various portraits linked to the faces of great sportsmen and women; Football fans will also see many of the most important names in their sport on this long walk.
How do you get to San Siro?
One thing that makes the Meazza a particularly appreciated stadium is also the simplicity with which it is possible to get to this place.
Whether you want to do it by car or by public transport, reaching the stadium is quite easy. Specifically, here are the options available.
By public transport: By the subway: the neighborhood is served by the Milan subway with 2 stops: San Siro Stadio and San Siro Ippodromo, both on the M5 line. By tram: line number 16, from the city center to the San Siro stadium. By bus: starting from Piazzale Lotto it is possible to take buses on lines 49 or 78; the extra-urban line is 723.
By your own means: by exiting the Milanese ring road at Certosa or Settimo Milanese it is possible to get to the San Siro district. In addition to the traditional parking areas, it is good to know that the paid car parks (the blue ones) are only active on days when there are events at the Meazza stadium.
2024-01-23 18:04:51
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