Overlooking Piazza del Duomo, with fabulous views of the cathedral, is Mussolini's Arengario , from where he would harangue huge crowds in his heyday. Now it houses Milan's museum of 20th-century art. Built around a futuristic spiral ramp (an ode to the Guggenheim), the lower floors are cramped, but the heady collection, which includes the likes of Umberto Boccioni, Campigli, de Chirico and Marinetti, more than distracts.
Ascend the spiral ramp through chronologically arranged rooms, which take you from Volpedo's powerful neo-Impressionist painting of striking workers, Il Quarto Stato, through the dynamic work of futurist greats such as Boccioni, Carlo Carra, Gino Severini and Giacomo Balla, and on to abstractionism, surrealism, spatialism and Arte Povera. Aside from the unique coherence of the collection, it provides a fascinating social commentary on Italy's trajectory through Fascism, two world wars and into the new dawn of the technological era.
Other than the exceptional collection, the museum houses Giacomo Arengario , a top-notch bistro located on the 3rd-floor, from where you can enjoy excellent views of the Duomo.
