Today as over the centuries, Milan is a centre of many different cultures.
Probably of Celtic origin, in 312 A.D. Emperor Constantine published in Milan the Edict making Christianity the official religion of the Empire. The Barbarian invasions of Attila, the Franks and the Burgundians took place in the 5th and 6th centuries. Then the Longobard Kingdom was invaded in 756 by Pippin, King of the Franks, whose son Charlemagne was to wear the Iron Crown of the Kings of Lombardy. During the Renaissance, Milan was ruled by two families: the Visconti (from 1277 to 1447) and the Sforza. From the 16th to the 17th centuries Milan was dominated by the French and the Spanish. In 1797, Napoleon's troops entered Milan. The city then became the capital of the Cisalpine Republic and later became the main city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for over half a century. In the 19th Century, Milan was the heart of the Risorgimento movement for the unification of Italy.
Thousands of years of history make Milan the international capital it is today.
Italy has always played a key role on the international stage. It was home to the signing of the Treaty of Rome to found the European Community, now the European Union. WHO offices in Rome, and EU and UN training centres in Turin continue this commitment.