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In volume 12 of our exclusive e-magazine, Bellissimo, we take a look at cosmopolitan northern jewel Lombardy. It’s one of the European Union’s most populous regions, but Lombardy usually gets broken down into its fascinating fragments of metropolises and lakeside settings, and rarely gets considered as a whole.

Lombardy is a giant puzzle worth unlocking. There’s the delightful duality of Milan, where cosmopolitan-capital status is the defining feature, but Italian mores of family and bella figura still loom large. There are the snazzy, waterfront resort areas, but if all you know of them is Como and Clooney, it’s time to wade deeper into the lakes (this issue will give you some good starting points!). Mantua and the Mannerist aesthetic of the sprawling Palazzo Te are so spectacular it’s a shock they aren’t on more visitors’ radars. There are the towns of Bergamo and Brescia that gained international notoriety in the early days of the pandemic, but that deserve to be known for so much more, from quirky local cocktails to medieval walls and opera and puppetry museums. 

Here’s an overview of what to expect in volume 12:

• Learn about lesser-known lakeside retreats beyond the usual Como area suspects
• Check out what’s changed in cosmopolitan Milan in a transformative period bookended by EXPO 2015 and the 2026 Olympic Games
• Explore the local lore surrounding Brescia’s signature cocktail, the pirlo
• Listen to the everyday symphony of Stradivarius violins (and others) in charming Cremona
• Check out the less-cheesy attractions in Gorgonzola (yep, it’s a town)
• Dive deep into a forgotten chapter of Lombardy’s industrial past in Crespi d’Adda, the consummate European “company town”
• Visit Bergamo through the back door
• See why the sciura milanese, the archetypal 60-plus patrician woman of Milan, is such a source of intrigue and even obsession in the fashion world
• And so much more!