MERCHANT'S SQUARE, Second Part

To enter the actual Merchant's Square, you have to go around the Palace of Reason. You can see the names of the Milanese who died during the two World Wars on the bronze plaques of the robust medieval pillars.

Here you can get an idea of what the original square was like, completely enclosed between buildings and only accessible from the archways. The well  surrounded by slabs that you see at the center is more than five hundred years old. If you're an avid reader, you can go browse the stalls of used books under the nearby arcades.

On the other side of the square in front of the Palace of Reason, you can see a row of palaces of various ages that form a fascinating whole. A bank is presently at the center, where there was once a luxurious 14th-century home called Loggia degli Osii: its portico and loggia in black and white marble can still be admired.

If instead you'd like to combine art and food, enjoy lunch in the restaurant which was once the fifteenth century Casa Panigarola while admiring the refined terracotta decorations of its arches....