Introduction to the region: Lombardia
Attribution: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32778
If Trentino- Alto Adige is the region of mountains, Lombardia is the region of lakes. That is reductive, I know; there are stunning lakes and mountainous areas throughout the country of Italy, and the region of Lombardia has more to offer than only lakes. Still, I chose to feature the city of Varenna, which sits on one of Italy’s most famous lakes, Lago di Como (Lake Como). It has been a water sanctuary and destination for wealthy visitors since Roman times.
View of Lake Como
Lake Como, although quite well known throughout the world, is only the third largest lake in the region of Lombardia; Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore are larger. In fact, the four ‘great’ lakes of this region are considered Lake Garda, Lake Como, Lake Maggiore and Lake Iseo. Each has picturesque towns perched on the edge of the water with gorgeous views.
Reaching Lake Como and others in the region is facilitated by the capital city of Milano. In Italy, Milano is the second most populous city after Roma. The city is well-known as a capital of industry. It is the city with the largest GDP in Italy, and one of the largest in Europe.
Because the city of Milan is commands such attention, I will use it as a way to explore the culture of the region at large. Milan is famously a fashion capital as the British pop group Right Said Fred’s ‘I’m too sexy’ lists Milan as the first city they ‘are too sexy’ for. The semi-annual Milan Fashion Week ensures that the spirit of fashion and innovation stays alive throughout the year. The ‘Expo’, that is, World’s Exposition or World’s Fair in 2015 drew even more attention to the city. I remember seeing the expo logo everywhere in Italy and talk about the event was omnipresent. The theme was "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life" which I noticed did bring much needed attention to the idea of environmental sustainability throughout the Italian peninsula.
One of the more recent icons of the city, in line with the Expo theme, and now a popular photo-op, is the bosco verticale (vertical forest) designed by Stefano Boeri’s studio. The horizontal and vertical landscape of Milan is quite unlike any other Italian city. It feels like a capital of industry when you walk through the streets. Thus, in this context, and many others, the city of Milano acts as a basin for the ‘trickle down’ effect to take place, not only in economic but also in cultural terms. There is trendsetting that happens here. Milan is often viewed as a symbol of northern efficiency, but also indifference and emotional frigidity that the southern Italians scoff at and often use as a cultural punching bag. Indeed, there is a potent geographical rivalry between the north and the south in Italy; some of which used as material for comedians but is also manifested in politics.
For example, the populist party in Italy, now called the ‘Lega’ or ‘league’ was born in the north and originally called Lega Nord per l'Indipendenza della Padania (Northern League for the Independence of Padania. Padania is “ sometime referred to as the Po Valley…[it] is made up of nine administrative regions in northern Italy and Croatia, consisting of Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Liguria, Trentino, Vallée d’Aoste and Istria.” Read more about it here.
In 1991 Lega Nord was set up with the primary goal of helping Padania become a federal state. Their feeling was that the money and business generated in the north of Italy should remain there. With this in mind, you might be thinking that it would be a herculean challenge to rebrand and sell the ‘lega’ party to southern Italy. However, since his ascent in the party, this is exactly what Matteo Salvini, who was born in Milan, is attempting to do. Salvini is most famous (and criticized) for his anti-immigrant stance articulated through xenophobic rhetoric. He founded the ‘noi con Salvini’ (us with Salvini) party in 2014 as a ‘sister’ party to the lega nord; Salvini has, unfortunately, gained some popularity throughout the Italian peninsula. The percentages are still quite low in southern regions, with over 25% in northern regions of Lombardia, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. The statistics are dynamic and changing of course, but for general reference, check out these statistics. You might be able to understand my feelings about Salvini from the ‘unfortunately’ embedded in there. I couldn’t resist, and as this is a personal website, I felt justified. That said, I follow Matteo Salvini on social media and listen to his live diatribes in order to be informed.
I would also like to highlight how the competition between north and south is manifested in Italian comedy, from indie to mainstream. For instance, a comedy group called Casa Surace produces many (rather low budget videos) in the form of nord vs sud (north vs. south) on a variety of topics such as eating out, vacations, and weddings.
Stereotypes about northern Italians, and Milanese, in particular, are somewhat hyperbolized for comedic value, but I see the theme appear again and again in Italian comedy.
‘The north’ in general and the capital city of Milano should not be painted as one dimensional, however. Find out more in the regional feature post all about Milano.
Proviso about COVID-19 and the effects on the region.
In the first months of 2020, despite being the wealthiest Italian region, Lombardia was hit disproportionately by COVID-19, the novel Corona virus. The entire region was the first to be put under a full ‘lockdown’ on March 8th. This was before a lockdown for the entire country of Italy went into effect on the following day. You can see that the region of Lombardia has had a higher case count than many other regions. The cities of Brescia and Bergamo, in particular, had large numbers of cases and there were tragic images of overcrowded intensive care wards. Moreover, the first reported case of COVID-19 was in Codogno, a smaller city within the region of Lombardia. Unfortunately, Italy became the epicenter for the virus in Italy, but it also became an early example for other countries to learn from. As we now know, the virus spread rapidly and new epicenters emerged all around the world. Around the world, eyes turned away from northern Italy from the end of March and focused on the spread of the officially declared pandemic.
Currently re-openings are happening in this region and all over the country as Italy moves through a number of ‘phases’ to reestablish normalcy after life was unexpectedly shaken. Lombardia is resilient like the whole of Italy and andra tutto bene (all will be well) as stated in one of the popular mantras throughout the months under strict quarantine measures in Italy.
Tourism will return to this region and all across the peninsula and the glories of ‘La Bella Italia’ will be shared with the world again.