Milan is situated midway in the large plain that crosses northern Italy and nestles against the mountains. Far from the sea, since Roman times Milan had been a key communication center because the primary passes through the Alps converged here. This location was the major reason that Milan became the Roman empire’s second city. But the city’s rise to medieval greatness was not a given. The Roman city of Milan was devastated in 452 by Attila the Hun and razed by the Goths nearly a century later.
