Arco della Pace: Napoleon's Arch That Ended Up Celebrating His Defeat
At the far end of Parco Sempione stands a triumphal arch in white Crevola marble, crowned by a bronze chariot drawn by six horses. The Arco della Pace was begun to glorify Napoleon and finished, after a change of regime, to celebrate the peace that followed his fall. From Taylor's Love Solferino B&B it is a twenty-minute walk.
Arco della Pace, Milan. Photo: Tobia09, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Getting There from Our B&B
On foot: approximately 1.7 km, about 21 minutes from Via Solferino 56, crossing Parco Sempione from the Castello end.
By metro: from Moscova (M2 green line), 300 metres away, one stop to Lanza, then a ten-minute walk through the park. Or tram 1 along Corso Sempione.
A Monument That Changed Its Mind
Work began in 1807 to a design by Luigi Cagnola. It was to be the Arch of Victories, the ceremonial gateway on the road Napoleon had built over the Simplon Pass to link Milan with Paris.
Napoleon fell in 1814 and the unfinished arch sat abandoned for a decade. The Austrian emperor Francis I then ordered it completed – with the inscriptions rewritten to celebrate the peace of 1815, the settlement that had removed Napoleon. It was inaugurated in 1838.
The bronze chariot on top, the Sestiga della Pace by Abbondio Sangiorgio, was originally to face towards Paris. It was turned round to face Vienna instead. When Milan expelled the Austrians in 1859, it was turned back.
What to Look For
- The Sestiga della Pace – the six-horse chariot with the figure of Peace, flanked by four Victories on horseback.
- The reliefs – scenes rewritten mid-construction, so the iconography celebrates events the original patrons would not have chosen.
- The view down the park – stand under the arch and look south-east: the whole axis runs through Parco Sempione to the Castello Sforzesco.
- Corso Sempione – the wide avenue running north-west, lined with bars and aperitivo terraces, busy on summer evenings.
- Arena Civica – the neoclassical amphitheatre of 1807 just beside the arch, where Napoleon staged mock naval battles by flooding the arena.
Practical Information
- Cost: free. It stands in a public square and is visible at all hours.
- Best time to visit: late afternoon, when the sun is low behind the arch, or after dark when it is floodlit.
- Combine with: a walk across Parco Sempione, so you approach it along the axis it was designed for.
- Evenings: the square and Corso Sempione are among the liveliest aperitivo spots in Milan from spring onwards.
A Good Circular Walk
From Via Solferino: through Brera, into Parco Sempione past the Castello Sforzesco, past the Triennale and the Torre Branca, out at the Arco della Pace, then back along Corso Sempione and down through Chinatown to Corso Garibaldi. About two hours at an easy pace.
Why Staying in Brera Makes the Difference
Taylor's Love Solferino B&B is at Via Solferino 56 in Zone 1, the historic centre, between Brera, Moscova and Corso Garibaldi. Parco Sempione and everything in it is effectively the garden of this neighbourhood.
For travellers who prefer a short stay apartment in Milan centre to a hotel, the B&B offers free self check-in with a smart lock. Porta Garibaldi FS, 700 metres away, connects directly to Malpensa Airport with the Malpensa Express.