Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Until September 30th, professional and amateur photographers will be able to immortalize 196 monuments that make up the historical and cultural heritage of Milan. Lipparini: “We renew the invitation to active citizens to tell the beauty of our city through their shots”

Milan, September 22 2019 – For the third consecutive year the Council has approved the participation of the Municipality of Milan in “Wiki Loves Monuments”, the international photographic competition that promotes the culture of free knowledge through the invitation to professional and amateur photographers to document the historical and art of the cities.

The initiative, also known by the acronym WLM, is promoted and coordinated by Wikimedia Italia - Association for the diffusion of free knowledge and has among its main objectives the valorisation of the immense Italian cultural heritage on the web, the desire to encourage citizens to document their cultural heritage, learning to share the shots taken thanks to the use of free licenses and the sharing of the shots taken, in full compliance with copyright and Italian legislation. The aim is to encourage citizens to know and document their cultural heritage through active citizenship practices, increasing awareness of the need to protect monuments and preserve their memory.

To participate in the competition, simply photograph and upload online by September 30th one of the over 190 monuments or sites present in the lists identified by the competition organization (, promising the complete list for the metropolitan city of Milan) which are compiled on the basis of the authorizations issued by the owners of the assets, whether private or public. The photos must then be uploaded under a free license to Wikimedia Commons, the archive of multimedia files supporting Wikimedia projects, and will enrich the pages of Wikipedia, the most consulted online encyclopedia in the world.

“For the third year we are joining the competition to promote a wide dissemination of the treasures of our city – declares Lorenzo Lipparini (Participation, Active Citizenship and Open Data) –. In previous editions, active citizens described Milan with over 1.900 shots. Today we renew the invitation to capture the beauty of our heritage through photography: in this way we will be able to expand the database of shots available to the municipal administration for the promotion and communication of institutional activities".

Among the 196 monuments identified by the Municipality of Milan, as well as sites known throughout Italy, such as the Royal Palace and the Sforzesco Castle, there are also five farmhouses, the Teatro Lirico, now almost totally free of scaffolding for the recovery works, the Cozzi and Romano swimming pools or the Vigorelli Velodrome.
The Municipality of Milan will have the opportunity to use the shots free of charge for institutional communication and promotional activities.

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