Many of the cities that I've visited in Italia claim to have if not invented, certainly first made use of porticoes as colonnades to get you from one part of the city to another under cover. You will see them in Torino. You will see them in Bologna. You will also see them in Milano, as we see here.

In this shot I'm still standing outside the Magazzini delle Firme clothing warehouse, this time looking down to the Via degli Omenoni on the far side of the building. (Which is, in fact, the warehouse's official address. I liked the way the sun was shining through and lighting up part of the walkway, as well as the building opposite.

The Via degli Omenoni takes its name from the Casa degli Omenoni which is located there, a palace which (a) you guessed it, we didn't get to see, and (b) was built by the sculptor Leone Leoni (which roughly translates as "Lion Lions"; I think there may be some subtext there) who lived from 1509 to 1590. Now get your head around the fact that in those days a sculptor could afford to build a palace.

The word "Omenoni" is local dialect for "big men", referring to 8 sculptures of Atlas on the facade which serve as pillars.

Outside of the facade little remains of Leoni's original building (which had served as both is residence and his workshop), since it had been rebuilt in the 19th and 20th centuries. It still would have been interesting to see, though. Perhaps the light gods were trying to entice me by lighting up the street name at the far end of the photo.