Knowing 's province: History, art, nature and new architecture

Today, Milan's province includes 189 cities. This area is so rich and diverse that it deserves several itineraries: hence, the publication "Knowing Milan and its province". Cultura, arte, paesaggi, tradizioni fan- Milano, la grande capitale della laborio- Dopo aver avviato, ormai nel lontano Conoscere Milano e la sua provincia. Un This project aims at promoting and enhancing the Milan no parte del patrimonio turistico, spes- sità italiana, ha una lunga storia da rac- 2002, i primi itinerari alla scoperta di invito che AIM rivolge a tutti i cittadini area; it was conceived by the Department for Tourism so sottovalutato, della provincia di contare e da leggere nei segni che dal una Milano in profonda trasformazio- della città centrale a diventare "viandan- of the Provincial Administration, together with the Milano. Eppure il nostro territorio è al passato ad oggi e nelle prospettive del ne,e in particolare dei nuovi quartieri ti nella loro terra", ad uscire dalle mura Urban Center of the City of Milan and the Chamber of sesto posto nella graduatoria italiana futuro segnalano gli interventi dell'uomo con nuovi parchi sorti su aree industria- urbane e a ritrovare nei segni del passa- Commerce of Milan. per le presenze turistiche e, anche se sul territorio, con le diversificate forme li dismesse, Urban Center promuove to e nelle realtà della vita odierna il per- gran parte di queste vengono generate di agricoltura e di produzione e nelle questo nuovo Conoscere Milano esteso corso che l'uomo ha condotto occupan- AIM designed and dal flusso di visite per affari, vi è un infrastrutture. E poi la rete dei centri a tutto il territorio della provincia. do e facendo fruttare un territorio fra i co-ordinated sempre crescente numero di cittadini urbani divenuti centri dell'industria Gli itinerari, disegnati a corolla attorno più fertili e ricchi dell'Europa. the itineraries. Ten interessati a scoprire inaspettati luoghi lungo le linee del trasporto viario, d'ac- a Milano, con tappe molto diverse tra Il percorso di conoscenza del moderno guided tours, di interesse a poca distanza da casa. qua e ferroviario, e accanto alle fonti di loro, toccheranno il ricco patrimonio viandante incontrerà poi, pur nella ricor- diverse and Per questo motivo presentiamo con energia. E ancora gli snodi del commer- storico e artistico insieme a trasforma- rente congestione di un territorio fitto interesting, soddisfazione, insieme alla Camera di cio, dell'incontro e della residenza dalle zioni e recuperi contemporanei, parten- di presenze abitative, produttive e infra- to unveil an area that Commercio e con il patrocinio di più lontane forme di insediamento ai do spesso da luoghi storici, nuovi quar- strutturali, i segni evidenti di nuove has a rich heritage Urban Center, questo programma di iti- nuovi quartieri. Negli itinerari per "cono- tieri o progetti di recupero realizzati a politiche di recupero e riassesto dei and a strong nerari attraverso la storia e l'arte nei scere Milano e la Provincia" si leggono Milano, a sottolineare il ruolo baricen- centri storici, di restauro di beni monu- drive towards the dintorni della città senza tralasciare le stratificati tutti questi interventi e si vede trico che il capoluogo detiene. mentali pubblici, privati ed ecclesiasti- aree dedicate all'agricoltura, all’indu- anche quanto lavoro ancora si possa e Urban Center si dimostra ancora una ci, nuove tipologie di parchi tutelati e future. stria e quelle degli ambienti naturali. si debba promuovere per migliorare la volta il luogo dedicato alla comunica- aperti ad utilizzi vari per il tempo libero Brevi visite per scoprire che, per "fare qualità della vita e dell'ambiente e per zione e all'informazione sul territorio, in e lo sport. Segnali concreti di un diffu- turismo", non sempre è necessario dare nuovi impulsi economici e sociali questo caso con l'obiettivo rivolto alle so rinascimento e rinnovamento am- affrontare lunghi viaggi in terre lontane. allo sviluppo. tante mete ricche di storia e di tesori bientale promosso e gestito dagli enti ITINERARY 10 disseminati nella provincia milanese locali che sono anch'essi una ricchezza Direttore centrale Hanno collaborato Filippo Penati Carlo Sangalli del nostro territorio. Cultura e Turismo Roberto Barelli THE SOUTH, BETWEEN NAVIGLIO Presidente Presidente Pia Benci Alessandra Costarpa GRANDE AND NAVIGLIO PAVESE Provincia di Milano Camera di Commercio di Milano Silvia Iantorno Responsabile Servizio Loretta Sangalli Savona Tortona Turismo Luisa Zanardi The new creativity district, spontaneously Monica Giudici Anna Zetti born in abandoned factories and workshops THE SOUTH, BETWEEN NAVIGLIO GRANDE AND NAVIGLIO PAVESE Gaggiano On the Naviglio Grande canal, a The tenth itinerary in Milan's province unfurls in-between the Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese canals. Naviglio Grande Area Programmazione Renato Mattioni renovated, colourful historic centre was first built in the 12th century, whereas the Naviglio Pavese has a more complicated history. The first idea dates back to Comunicazione Federica Villa the times of the Viscontis, however it took until the late 16th-early 17th century to try, unsuccessfully, to create a navigable e Relazioni Istituzionali Laura Colombo Abbazia di Morimondo canal connecting Milan to Pavia. The project was completed under Napoleon. As we leave Milan going south-west, we travel The fascinating keystone in the through the Via Savona and Via Tortona area, a former industrial neighbourhood that has become a creativity district in the farming policy of Carthusian monks last twenty years. Down along the Naviglio Grande, we reach Parco Agricolo Sud Milano: the park aims to match Research and copy General co-ordination environmental protection with the safeguard of farming, its landscape and economy. It stretches over 61 towns and about Monica Torri Luisa Toeschi Binasco Mara Martello Carlo Berizzi A that played a key role one-third of the province's territory, and sits as a green belt South of Milan. We travel through green countryside to Abbazia Claudia Galassi di Morimondo and its borough, where the Carthusian monks have left a deep mark on the rural landscape. Then, we go on in Massimo Tiano Milly Di Bello in the town's history and urban planning a countryside rich in water, through Rosate, Fallavecchia, Binasco, to Zibido San Giacomo, from where we make our way back to Milan. Water being the main feature in the area, the itinerary finishes in Milan at a water cleaning plant, the San Rocco facility. Graphic and photos Itinerary guides Zibido San Giacomo Roberto Redaelli Società CIVITA New neighbourhoods and production sites, fortified farmsteads and a beautiful 15th -century church INFORMATION www.provincia.milano.it www.conosceremilano.it Tourist Office Province of Milan Piazza Castello 1 ang. Via Luca Beltrami Tel 02 805.80.614/15/16 Monday to friday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m Mail: [email protected] Copyright: Province of Milan-AIM 2006 1. SAVONA 2. GAGGIANO 3. ROSATE 4. ABBAZIA DI TORTONA The itinerary follows the We travel through an area that has MORIMONDO In the last twenty years, this Navigli canals. Along the many factories, abandoned More green countryside to reach a site that is as famous area has become a real Naviglio Grande, we get farmhouses and clusters of small as it is enchanted, the Abbazia di Morimondo. creativity district. Armani to Gaggiano, where villas to get to Rosate. After the Farmhouses, small courtyards, the streets and the Teatro, Superstudiopiù, the lovely colourful old 17th-century church of San entrance door of the borough: everything is ancient and Pomodoro Foundation and houses face the water, Giuseppe, we reach a small Castle well preserved, and leads to a very popular destination, the Scala Ansaldo Workshop and the imposing 18th- that survived the fights between especially in good weather, thanks to the pleasantness are all located in former century Sant'Invenzio the Comuni city-states and the of the site and the beauty of this 13th-century Carthusian industrial buildings; all church stands on the Empire during the Middle Ages. complex. It is a keystone in the farming policy that the around, there are plenty of town square. On the Carthusian monks of San Bernardo implemented in fashion, graphic design, opposite side of the in the Middle Ages. There is an imposing photography studios. New Naviglio - wisely abbey church dedicated to Saints Maria and Ambrogio: housing and offices are also preserved from the outside is Romanic, while the three-naves inside being built, including urbanisation - we has more of a Gothic sensibility. Over the centuries, Bergognone 53, which see the 16th-century the church has been enriched with important works of used to be the old Post Town Hall, which art, including a Madonna with Child by Bernardino Building. still has some of the Luini. The precious cloister keeps its original 13th- porches and graffiti century shape. decorations, and 18th -century Palazzo Venini Uboldi. Finally, at the exit of town, we reach late 16th-century Villa Stampa Aloardi, better known as Villa Marino; popular tradition has it that it 5. FALLAVECCHIA was the summer We go South along a nice residence of Genoa country road to financier Tommaso Fallavecchia, an Marino. The large gate 8. ZIBIDO SAN GIACOMO important active along the Naviglio Today, Zibido is nearly overwhelmed by recent thick farmstead, that was the shows the front of the development in housing and business districts; however, farmhouse of the Abbazia villa with its porch; the towns boasts the highest concentration of 15th-century di Morimondo; it still has the back opens onto fortified buildings, that survived the power struggles and two small churches, one the countryside and wars that only marginally affected this area. North of inside the farmhouse, the its farmhouses. town, we find the Castelletto and Ca' Grande compounds. other on the street. The former was seized from the Posterla family by who donated it to the Carthusian abbey 6. BINASCO of Pavia as their farmhouse. It is a fortified house with a We reach Besate, the starting point for excursions tower.The latter is a cluster of three-floor buildings, with in the Parco del Ticino, then the centre of Binasco. courtyard and garden. Inside the courtyard, the masters' The main square hosts a 14th-century Visconti quarters, known as Casa Pusterla, are one of the most castle that is now the Town Hall. This majestic accomplished examples of a late 15th-century house. As building was originally built to protect Milan and we go on, we get to a special site, a small piazza with the has the typical period arrangement with a moat, Town Hall and the beautiful Renaissance church of San square plan and corner towers. However, the Giacomo, built in 1100 and renovated in the 15th century. castle of Binasco also has a terrible story: it was The inside deserves a stop, too, with its Luini school frescoes. the location of a famous tragic event, involving and beautiful and rich Beatrice Tenda. Her husband having accused her 7. PARCO AGRICOLO SUD MILANO 9. SAN ROCCO STATION+ of betraying him, she and her assumed lover were On the way back to Milan along the Naviglio Pavese, near Parco Agricolo Sud Milano is characterised by lines of trees, the Fiordaliso shopping mall and just before the Gratosoglio beheaded here in 1418. Vincenzo Bellini ancient farmhouses, precious rural boroughs, waterways and immortalised the event in his opera. Near the and Missaglia residential neighbourhoods, we can see the corn fields; it envelops the city in a half-ring shape and elegant blue shape of the new water cleaning station. fortress, there is the Baroque 1783 parish church connects to Parco dell'Adda in the East and to Parco del of Saints Stefano and Giovanni, with a panel by Ticino in the West. The park involves as many as 61 cities Perugia painter Luigi Scaramuccia portraying in Lombardy: it aims at safeguarding this rich environment Beata Veronica. and at enhancing its historic architectural heritage.