The Unico Apartment in Milan.

Porta Ticinese

The Ticinese area takes its name from the avenue of the Ticinese Gate (“Corso di Porta Ticinese”), the street that originates from the Carrobbio at the end of via Torino, and runs south to the Porta Ticinese.  Between Carrobbio and the beginning of the Corso you will walk past the San Lorenzo church and its Romanic columns (II century a.C.), likely to be a fragment of ancient Roman baths from the Imperial period.
The Corso runs along the wide and winding Parco delle Basiliche, which extends from the church of San Lorenzo to the curch of Sant’Eustorgio, the latter being one of the most important monuments in Romanesque-Gothic style of Milano. 
The cloister of the Sant’Eustorgio church currently houses the Diocesan Museum (“Museo Diocesano”) and from inside the church it is possible to enter the wonderful Portinari chapel by Solari, dating from the 15th century.
This area is one of the centres of the “movida” in Milano, unmissable in the evenings and at night.  It is a young area and it offers many shops and trendy cafés and bars.  To the side of the Porta Ticinese is the Darsena – the large artificial basin which marks the beginning (or the end) of the navigable channels of Milano, called the Navigli.  They have been traditionally the preferred destination of artists, musicians and poets who have given this area a characteristic Bohemian athmosphere surviving until the present day, even if the old wash houses and working-class buildings have been transformed into art studios and antiques shops, while the old barges moored along the canals turned into “dehors” of the clubs overlooking the Navigli.
Every last Sunday of the month an antiques street market takes place on the Naviglio Grande, with numerous stalls crowding the streets around it. It’s worth noting that goods undergo strict quality controls (hours from 9 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.; for information 02 89409971).
South-east of the Navigli, past the pedestrian bridge covered with graffiti of Porta Genova, lies the area of via Tortona, a former working-class district of banister houses and factories, currently full of shops, “ateliers” and design studios.  A must see are the Armani theatre, designed by architect Tadao Ando, and the Pomodoro foundation, utmost example of recovering industrial architecture/ recupero di archeologia industriale.  During the annual Furniture Show (“Salone del Mobile”) held in April the area of via Tortona houses several show rooms and offers events and parties till the early hours.