Piazza Ducale ranks among Italy's most beautiful squares, and among the first conceived as a single work: Ludovico il Moro commissioned it in 1492-94 as the forecourt of his castle, frescoed porticoes running along three sides and the cathedral's concave façade closing the stage. The Sforza Castle above is among Europe's largest fortified complexes, complete with Bramante's covered road.
The other glory is the shoe: Vigevano was Italy's footwear capital, and its Shoe Museum keeps pieces fit for queens. Leonardo worked nearby — the Sforzesca estate and its mills remember him.
Near Vigevano
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
