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Milan · Mysteries & legends

Dark Milan: devils, plague-spreaders and skulls

Behind elegant Milan lies another city, made of collective fears, real crimes and legends told for centuries. On this route we carefully separate what the records say from what tradition says, so you can enjoy the shiver without mistaking it for history.

  • 6 stops
  • 3 km
  • 1 h 50 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Façade of the Casa degli Omenoni with its stone giants

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 The Devil's ColumnA Roman column with two holes that, legend says, were made by the devil's horns as he charged at Saint Ambrose.
  2. 2 The Colonna InfameThis was the home of the barber Gian Giacomo Mora, executed in 1630 as a plague-spreader after a trial under torture.
  3. 3 Via BagneraA narrow, winding alley where Antonio Boggia, regarded as Italy's first serial killer, carried out his crimes.
  4. 4 The half-woolly sow of Piazza dei MercantiA sow half covered in wool, carved on a medieval arch, holds the legend of Milan's founding.
  5. 5 Casa degli OmenoniEight stone giants guard the house of Leone Leoni, sculptor to emperors and a man with a violent temper.
  6. 6 San Bernardino alle OssaA small church beside Santo Stefano hides a chapel whose walls are covered in skulls and bones.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Dark Milan: devils, plague-spreaders and skulls

Legends with an address

Every story is tied to a column, a façade or an alley you can touch with your own hand.

Documented crimes

Real trials, confessions and sentences, from the plague of 1630 to the 19th-century «monster».

Hidden symbols

A half-woolly sow, eight stone giants and skull after skull: details most people walk straight past.

Keep exploring

More routes in Milan

Back to Milan
HistoryFrom Mediolanum to the Sforza: twenty centuries on foot MixedMust-see Milan: from Brera to the Navigli