Ca' Granda

This guide to Ca' Granda in Milan opens with Francesco Sforza, the duke who seized power in Milan in 1450 and, still short on the city's trust, ordered its scattered hospitals folded into one grand new building. It follows architect Filarete's plan for the complex, wrapping wards around open courtyards with running water decades ahead of most of Europe. When Filarete died in 1469 with only part of one wing finished, his successor Guiniforte Solari carried the building on in a different style entirely.