Living in Milan glossary

Water houses

MM refrigerated refill stations for still and sparkling tap water. Free with tessera sanitaria or CRS card. Find on latuaacqua.it, the MM app, or our maps page (#case-dell-acqua).

Green dragons (nickname)

Nickname for Milan's green cast-iron public fountains, the spout is shaped like a dragon. Same as vedovelle. See our draghi verdi guide and maps page (#draghi-verdi).

Milan water utility

City water company (not the metro). Maintains vedovelle, Case dell'acqua, and latuaacqua.it.

Public drinking fountain

Milan's continuous-flow street fountains with potable water (also called draghi verdi). No card needed. See our draghi verdi guide.

Low-emission zone (outer)

ZTL covering most of Milan municipality. Restricts access for the most polluting vehicles, no ticket, but plate standards apply. Access-point map on our Milan maps page (#area-b-gates).

Congestion charge zone (centre)

Paid ZTL inside the Cerchia dei Bastioni (historic centre). Entry via electronic gates (varchi); ticket required in active hours unless exempt. Gate map: #area-c-gates on Milan maps.

Milan public transport operator

Azienda Trasporti Milanesi: metro, bus, tram, and GiroMilano interactive map. Not the same as Metropolitana Milanese (MM, water utility).

Milan bike sharing

Public bike-share docking stations. Live availability in the BikeMi app; official station locations on our Milan maps page (#bikemi).

Suburban rail station

FS and suburban rail stops within Milan (Passante, S-lines, etc.). Comune open-data map on Milan maps (#rail-stations); timetables on Trenitalia or Trenord.

ATM journey planner & map

Interactive route planner at giromilano.atm.it. Static metro schematic: giromilano.atm.it/assets/images/schema_rete_metro.jpg.

Cycle paths & bike routes

Official cycle network segments from Comune open data (DS60). Dense overlay: zoom in on our Milan maps page (#cycle-paths); not all segments are protected lanes.

Electronic access gate

Camera-equipped checkpoint for Area C or Area B. Area C gates require a ticket in active hours unless exempt. Maps: #area-c-gates and #area-b-gates.

Limited traffic zone

Restricted-access area enforced by cameras. Area C (centre, paid) and Area B (wider, emissions-based) are Milan's main ZTLs. Pedestrian and ZTL polygons: #ztl-areas on Milan maps.

Milan waste company

Azienda Milanese Servizi Ambientali: handles rubbish collection, riciclerie, eco-islands, and mobile CAM centres in Milan. Maps at amsa.it and on our Milan maps page.

Mobile recycling centre

Roaming AMSA collection point for electronics, batteries, oils, and similar waste. Calendar on amsa.it and Comune open data DS1689 (CSV, not on our map embeds).

Neighbourhood waste drop-off island

Small street-level bins for separated waste (glass, paper, plastic, organic). Not the same as AMSA riciclerie. Map on Milan maps (#eco-islands).

Recycling centre

AMSA fixed drop-off site for bulky waste, electronics, wood, metal, and other separated materials. Five locations in Milan: map on Milan maps (#riciclerie); hours on amsa.it.

Comune business & markets portal

Official Comune site for mercati settimanali scoperti, geoportale map, ubicazioni PDF, and stall counts. fareimpresa.comune.milano.it/mercati-settimanali-scoperti.

Covered municipal market

Fixed indoor market hall with permanent stalls, open most weekdays, separate from weekly street markets. Map on Milan maps (#covered-markets, DS2471).

Weekly open-air street market

Temporary stalls on public streets or piazzas, usually on fixed weekday(s). Filter by day and municipio on our markets guide (DS291).

Food / non-food market stalls

Stall categories in Comune market data: food (produce, fish, etc.) vs clothing, household goods, and similar. Counts appear in DS291 map popups.

Market pack-down

Window when stalls are dismantled at the end of a market session. Comune PDFs list orario sgombero per market, arrive before this time.

Provincial adult education centre

Public centres offering Italian language and basic education for adults, including newcomers. Locations on Milan maps (#cpia, DS551): verify enrolment with each provider.

Municipal museums pass

Pass covering selected Comune civic museums. Participating sites on Milan maps (#musei-card, DS2727); rules and validity on museicivicimilano.it.

Municipal outdoor Wi-Fi

Free public Wi-Fi at outdoor access points (network name OpenWifiMilano). Registration required. Antenna map on Milan maps (#open-wifi, DS69).

Italian language school for foreigners

Courses run by associations, comune programmes, and CPIA centres for non-native speakers. Comune list on Milan maps (#cpia, DS551).

Milan public library network

City library branches (Biblioteche di quartiere and central libraries). Branch map on Milan maps (#libraries, DS1306); hours on sbm-cultura.it.

On-duty pharmacy

Pharmacy open outside normal hours on a rota. Live turni: farmacia-aperta.eu. Static pharmacy locations on Milan maps (#farmacie, DS501), not live opening hours.

City district (1-9)

Milan is divided into nine municipi (boroughs). Open-data stats and our markets filter use the Comune ZD (zona decreto) field, which aligns with municipio in DS291.

Neighbourhood unit

Fine-grained neighbourhood label in Comune open data, used on fountain, pharmacy, Wi-Fi, and library maps.

Comune open data portal

Story maps and datasets at dati.comune.milano.it. Our Milan maps page embeds CKAN GeoJSON feeds (DS502, DS291, etc.) for interactive Leaflet maps.

Administrative zone code

Numeric zone in Comune datasets (often 1-9), used as municipio on the weekly markets map filter and in official market PDFs.