Things to do in Monza

A few kilometers from Milan, surrounded by a lush green park with the same name and famous for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, lies the beautiful city of Monza, a town rich in history and art that is also the commercial and industrial center of the Brianza region.Made famous by the events of the Nun in Manzoni's book The Betrothed, Monza is a jewel to be discovered. Built in 595 thanks to the Lombard Queen Teodolinda, the splendid Cathedral (Duomo) hosts a chapel dedicated to the queen, where you can find the famous Iron Crown, worn by great emperors of the Holy Roman Empire as Charlemagne and Frederick Barbarossa. Another treasure of Monza is the eighteenth-century Villa Reale, built by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who gave it to his son, the Archiduke Ferdinand. With a recognizable neoclassical style, the Villa was also the residence of King Umberto I of Italy and his wife Margaret of Savoy.