Monza is a prosperous Lombard city 15 kilometres north of Milan, best known internationally for its Formula 1 racing circuit and its Lombard-Gothic cathedral. It is an old city — the Lombard queen Theodelinda made it her residence in the early 7th century and bequeathed to the cathedral a collection of treasures including the famous Iron Crown of Lombardy — but most visitors come either for the motor racing in September or as a day trip from Milan to see the vast Royal Villa and its enormous surrounding park.
The Monza Cathedral is the city's finest building: a two-tone marble facade in the alternating green and white stripes characteristic of Lombard Gothic architecture, with a rose window and a 14th-century interior containing medieval frescoes and the treasury where the Iron Crown is kept. The Arengario, the medieval town hall standing on the main square, is a Romanesque and Gothic civic building of considerable character. These two monuments anchor a historic centre that is compact, well preserved, and largely free of the tourist pressure you feel in Milan.
The Monza Park, one of the largest enclosed parks in Europe, wraps around the north of the city and contains within it the Royal Villa's formal gardens, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza race circuit, and several kilometres of paths through oak and chestnut woodland. It is where the Milanese come on weekends to run, cycle, and ride horses, and where the motor racing world descends each September for the Italian Grand Prix.