Italy · Lombardia · Milan
Chinatown, Milan — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Chinatown is the Paolo Sarpi commercial quarter of Milan, the oldest and largest Chinese community in Italy.
About Chinatown
Where to stay in Chinatown
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Paolo Sarpi sets the terms here, with the Arch of Peace and Sforza Castle both within a walk of the shopfronts that give the quarter its trade. Rooms sit close in. Guests who book inside the 8th quarter of Milan get a base that reaches Pinacoteca di Brera, the Triennale di Milano and Torre Branca without needing a tram, which suits anyone whose days run on museums rather than motorways.
Velodromo Vigorelli stands further out.
About Chinatown
What are the main landmarks in Chinatown?
Sforza Castle anchors the landmark list, and inside its walls the Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco, Museo d'Arte Antica, the Museum of Musical Instruments and the Egyptian Museum of Milan share one address. The Arch of Peace closes the view. Brera adds Pinacoteca di Brera and the Brera Astronomical Observatory, while Basilica of San Simpliciano, San Marco Church and Santa Maria del Carmine carry the older religious fabric.
Design has its own house at the ADI Design Museum.
What is the history of Chinatown?
Migration wrote this quarter. The Chinese community of Milan settled around Paolo Sarpi and grew into the oldest and largest such community in Italy, turning residential blocks in the 8th quarter into a working commercial district of workshops and shops. Trade came before tourism.
Older layers surround it rather than lie under it, since Sforza Castle, the Arch of Peace and Basilica of San Simpliciano all belong to the earlier centuries of Milan and stand within the same walk.
Where is Chinatown?
Chinatown covers the Paolo Sarpi blocks of the 8th quarter of Milan, a dense commercial grid with Sforza Castle and the Arch of Peace nearby.
Good for
More areas in Milan
Updated September 2026