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The city is one of the world's major commercial and financial centers, and one of the wealthiest cities in the European Union. Milan is one of the world capitals of fashion — along with New York City, Paris, London, Tokyo— and design. Indeed the English word milliner is derived from the name of the city. The Lombard metropolis is famous for fashion firms and shops (via Montenapoleone) and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in the Piazza Duomo, reputed to be the world's oldest shopping mall. Another famed Milanese product is the traditional Christmas sweet cake, called Panettone. Milan is also famous for the Alfa Romeo motorcar and for its silk production; but on the whole relies on its directional functions for the whole of Lombardy, its once proud and strong industrial base having been externalized throughout the region in the 60s-70s of the last century. The city hosted among other events the World Exposition in 1906, the football World Cup in 1934 and 1990, the football Euro Cup in 1980, and plans to host the World Expo of 2015.
It is presumed Milan was originally founded by the Celts of Northern Italy around 600 BC and was conquered around 222 BC by the Romans, who gave it the name of Mediolanum. In the 4th century, at the time of the bishop Saint Ambrose and Emperor Theodosius I, the city was briefly the capital of the Western Roman Empire. At that time Milan was the second largest city in Europe, with more than 300,000 inhabitants. St Ambrose is now the Patron Saint of the city. With the Visigoth menace mounting, Milan lost its capital role to Ravenna in 402. Attila plundered the city in 452 during his invasion of Italy, then the Ostrogoths of Uraia ravaged it in 541, during the disastrous Greco-Gothic war. The ghost of a city was then taken by the Lombards in 569; the main Byzantine officials, both civilian and religious, fled to Genoa for safety. The Lombards made Milan capital of one of their main duchies, and the city slowly but surely recovered a role, if overshadowed by neighbouring Pavia and Monza.
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