Napoleon’s spirit hovers in this square of the Milanese cool nightlife, but practically it is deserted during the day. The neoclassical arch that frames on the one hand the Filarete tower of the Castello Sforzesco, then Piazza d’Armi, and on the other Corso Sempione towards Paris, is the night scene of a crowd stubbornly dedicated to drinking cocktails of a certain cost. In one of the two toll booths next to it there was a magnificent trattoria, while a sort of temporary clandestine hotel remained legendary, situated among the scaffoldings during the restoration of the arch.
The most surprising element in such an elegant setting remains the street furniture, with the ugliest streetlamps in history.

Translated by @silaskin