A brick fortress the Visconti built and the Sforza rebuilt, wrecked and restored more than once, and now the city’s museum complex. Leonardo painted a ceiling in one of its rooms; Michelangelo’s last work, the unfinished Rondanini Pietà, is in another.
The Filarete tower over the entrance is a nineteenth-century reconstruction, which is typical of the whole building and does not spoil it.
What it costs
⭐ The courtyards are free and you can walk in, through and out into Parco Sempione without paying anything.
The museums are ticketed, on one combined ticket covering all of them — the Pietà, the Egyptian rooms, the musical instruments, the Sala delle Asse.
When to go
Mornings. ⚠️ Closed on Mondays, like most of Milan’s museums, and the Sala delle Asse has been in and out of restoration for years — check whether it is open before you go for it.
Getting there
Cairoli on M1 puts you at the front gate; Cadorna on M1 and M2 at the park side.
⭐ One urban ticket lasts 90 minutes and covers the metro, the trams and the buses inside the city zones — one metro journey plus as many surface changes as you can fit. A contactless bank card works at the gate, and ⚠️ you tap the same card again on the way out of a metro station. See Getting Around.
If you only have an hour
Through the gate, across both courtyards, and into the one room with the Rondanini Pietà — which is displayed alone, and should be. Then out into the park.
What people get wrong
⚠️ Everyone photographs the tower and leaves. The courtyards are free, take four minutes, and lead into the best park in the city.
Nearby
Admissions, closing days and booking arrangements as published and checked on 7 September 2026. These change — the Last Supper’s release schedule has changed more than once — so confirm anything you are relying on before you travel. More sights, and how they fit together, in Landmarks & Sights.