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Abstract: The eighteenth century cadastre of Lombardy, the Catasto Teresiano, is a particularly interesting source for the study of cities, to which it dedicates a special treatment. The modernity of the guidelines which inspired it (such as taxation of goods as against personal taxation or the descriptive registers associated to the geometric parcels’ maps), the rigor of the procedures (census and property calculations produced by appraisers working on preestablished norms and not on the owners’ statements) all contribute towards making it an ideal source for the production of a geographical data system. As it is possible to locate the properties exactly, to measure the areas and work on different scales, we now have new options to investigate Milan in the eighteenth century. Also the cadastre’s greatest limitation, that of presenting a somewhat static description, can be overcome with the use of other sources (changes of ownership documents, building permits etc.) that can help disclose the multiple aspects of urban transformation.