The building’s Pinacoteca di Brera, founded in 1809 by Napoleon, is one of the largest art galleries in Italy and contains a fine collection of north Italian painting. The Palazzo di Brera also contains the Braidense National Library, and its beautiful courtyard is dominated by Antonio Canova’s statue of Napoleon. Also during Napoleon’s rule, construction of a huge triumphal arch, later called the Arch of Peace (Arco della Pace) was begun; it stands on the edge of Sempione Park.

Just off the Corso Garibaldi stands the Basilica San Simpliciano, which according to tradition was founded in the 4th century by St. Ambrose. Its apse contains the 15th-century fresco Coronation of the Virgin by Ambrogio Bergognone. Other notable churches in the central area include San Satiro, Sant’Eustorgio, San Lorenzo Maggiore, and San Babila. The former refectory of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie is home to Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, one of the most famous frescoes of the Renaissance. It was fully reopened to public view in 1999 after a lengthy, controversial restoration.