Palazzo Carminati is the palace facing the Milan Cathedral (i.e., the "Duomo") on the West side of Piazza del Duomo

Piazza del Duomo, Milan

Piazza del Duomo is the main piazza of Milan, Italy. It is named after, and dominated by, the Milan Cathedral . The piazza marks the center of the city, both in a geographic sense and because of its importance from an artistic, cultural, and social point of view...

, the central plaza of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Despite being of relatively little architectural interest, in the 20th century the palace became a landmark of Milan (and a symbol of the city's economic growth) because of the large neon advertising signs that were affixed to its facade, with an overall visual effect that has been compared to that of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's Broadway

Broadway (New York City)

Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...

/Times Square

Times Square

Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...

 or London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...

. Advertising signs first appeared on the facade of the palace in the 1920s, but they were especially rich and colorful in the 1960s and 1970s. Besides being known to the Milanese, the facade of the palace became familiar to everyone in Italy through a number of appearances in movies and television, including a spot for the Cynar

Cynar

Cynar is an Italian bitter apéritif liqueur made from 13 herbs and plants. Predominant amongst these is the artichoke , from which the drink derives its name...

 liquor.

The signs were eventually removed by Milan's major Gabriele Albertini

Gabriele Albertini

Gabriele Albertini is an Italian politician, former Mayor of Milan and incumbent Member of the European Parliament for North-Western Italy with The People of Freedom, part of the European People's Party, and sits in the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism.He is a substitute...

in 1999, as a consequence of a campaign aimed at promoting the plaza's "dignity", although this decision has since been frequently criticized.