The Navigli canals

Milan has no river or sea, yet for centuries it was a port thanks to a network of canals, the Navigli. Marble for the Duomo came in by boat along the Naviglio Grande, dug in the 12th century, and Leonardo studied the city's locks. Most canals were covered over in the 1930s; the Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese remain, meeting at the Darsena, the old harbour.

Along the Naviglio Grande you'll find low houses with courtyards, artists' workshops and bars. Vicolo dei Lavandai keeps the stone washing troughs where laundry was once done in the canal. As evening falls, the banks fill up for aperitivo.