The region of Lambardy stretches from the Alps, on the border with Switzerland, down through the romantic lakes of Como and Maggiore to the broad, flat plain of the river Po.
It is an area of lakeside villas with azalea-filled gardens, of wealthy towns, with imposing palazzi and highly decorated churches, and of efficent, modern industry and large-scale agriculture, the financial heart of Italy.
At its centre stands Milan, the style-conscious capital of Lombardy.
The region was named after the Lombards or Longobards, a barbarian tribe that invaded Italy in the 6th century AD.
During the Middle Ages, Lombardy was part of the Holy Roman Empire, but not always loyal to its German emperors.
The 12th century saw the rise of the Lega Lombarda,or Lombard League, a band of forceful separatists founded to counter the brutal imperialism of Frederick Barbarossa (their modern incarnation is the Lega Nord political party).
Power was then seized by the region's great families, most notably the Visconti and the Sforza of Milan.
These dynasties also became great patrons of the arts, commissioning exquisite palaces, churches and artworks, many of which can still be seen.
Bergamo, Mantova and Cremona - not to mention Milan itself - contain a remarkably rich array of art treasures.
Here are such pinacles of European civilization as the charterhouse at Pavia, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper and the magnificent paintings of the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.
Lombardy - famous as the birthplace of Virgil, Monteverdi, Stradivarius and Donizetti - today offers visitors the contrasting pleasures of lyrical lake-side lanscapes (resorts on lakes Como and Maggiore have attracted poets, aristocrats and gamglers for centuries) and beautiful, bustling cities.