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What to see in North Milan

The North Milan Area, between North Park and some must-see gems

from IN-LOMBARDIA.IT
Automatically translated

The territory of Nordmilano is developed in the upper northern Po Valley over an area to the southeast between Sesto San Giovanni and Cologno Monzese, near the area where the Lambro River intersects the Martesana Canal.

This territory is crossed by some of the main watercourses that make up the complex system of the Milan Hydrography.

The North Milan Park can currently count on more than 350 hectares of greenery, divided into wooded areas, clearings, rows, shrub patches, hedges and small ponds. The park continues to expand and grow, both in area and in tree stock.

Discover some important centers in this area, just a few miles from Milan.

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ph: zero.eu
Cinisello Balsamo (MI)
Cinisello Balsamo was enriched during its history by numerous villas of delight, the most important of which - in terms of size, historical and architectural value - is certainly Villa Ghirlanda Silva, currently owned by the municipality, which uses it as a civic center. The historic park present within it is the focus of the communal life of its inhabitants. The city is also squeezed between two inter-municipal parks, the North Milan Park and the Grugnotorto Park. The latter is an agricultural park, so much so that the last surviving agricultural activities continue within it. (ph: cinisellonline.it)
Sesto San Giovanni (MI)
From Sesto San Giovanni passed the Via Regina, a Roman road connecting the river port of Cremona with Clavenna (Chiavenna) via Mediolanum, and the Via Spluga, a Roman road connecting Milan with Lindau via the Spluga Pass. Campari's historic headquarters, of which only the facade remains, has been modernized since the second half of the 1990s, designed by architect Mario Botta, and has become Galleria Campari. Numerous historic villas are part of the urban agglomeration giving beauty to one of the most populous municipalities in the northern Milan area. (ph: botta.ch)
Bresso (MI)
The first nucleus of Bresso consists of a small group of hovels set on a slightly elevated site, surrounded by fertile countryside watered by the Seveso stream. Appreciable from a historical-architectural point of view are the Church of SS. Nazaro and Celso, the oratory of the Madonna del Pilastrello, the Villa Patellani and the Villa dei Perini. Alessandro Manzoni made frequent visits to Bresso: from his summer residence in Brusuglio, crossing the small bridge over the Seveso River and walking along what would be called via Manzoni, he went to Villa Patellani, spending entire afternoons there.
Cologno Monzese (MI)
The origin of Cologno Monzese dates back to 333 AD, in late Roman times, and is linked to the phenomenon of Roman "colonizations." The name, in fact, derives from the Latin "colonia," or rather "colonia super Lambrum," since it stood to the left of the Lambro River. Valuable residences of noble families, which have preserved their former splendor and many of which can be admired adjacent to the Martesana Canal. This canal offers a chance to savor a landscape rich in history, in a tranquil setting, although immersed in an urban conglomerate, thanks to its towpath.
Cusano Milanino (MI)
An eclectic city from an architectural point of view, it boasts a record: it is the first Garden City in Italy: Milanino represents the most extraordinary repertoire of forms and above all use of materials: conglomerates, sandstones, granites, all of Lombard origin such as breccia from Urago or marble from Musso. Between 1909 and 1923 an urban planning experiment was being shaped in the heaths of Cusano that drew its organizational force from the thought of Luigi Buffoli. The cottages spoke all the architectural languages of the then known world, each with a healthy local accent. (ph IG @monglin.huang)
Paderno Dugnano (MI)
The Dugnani family, between the 16th and 17th centuries, enriched their properties with sumptuous holiday residences, which still constitute valuable elements of local architecture. Prominent among the monuments are: in Dugnano, the parish church of Santi Nazario e Celso and the villas Dugnani, Rotondi and Uboldi Orombelli; in Paderno, the parish church dedicated to the Nativity of Mary and the villas Bossi Riboldi, Calderara, Calderara Maga and De Marchi; in Palazzolo, the church of San Martino and the villas Casati Castoldi and Molo; in Cassina Amata, the parish church of Sant'Ambrogio and the villa Asnaghi. (ph IG @oxfigus)
Cormano (MI)
Noble Milanese families used to vacation here: the most majestic was that of the Imbonati counts (later to pass by testamentary disposition of Carlo Imbonati to Giulia Beccaria, mother of Alessandro Manzoni). Manzoni on his return from Paris, with his wife Enrichetta, daughter Giulietta and mother Giulia, lived for a long time in their Villa in Brusuglio, not only during the summer period, making this residence the place of his rest, meditation, intimacy and gatherings with friends. It was in this residence that Manzoni cultivated his passion for agriculture.
Novate Milanese (MI)
The most historically and culturally interesting building in the municipality dates back to the 16th century: the oratory of Saints Nazario and Celso, familiarly nicknamed "Gesiö" (little church). The place of worship contains two valuable 17th-century canvases; "Madonna with Child and Saints Nazario and Celso," painted between 1603 and 1613 - oil on canvas and "St. Anthony of Padua," painted before 1697 - oil on canvas. Recently, the tomb of the wealthy man who ordered the construction of this magical site, ducal senator Bernardino Busti, was found there and is still in excellent condition.
Senago (MI)
Prominent among the monuments is Villa Borromeo, built in the 17th century by Archbishop Federico Borromeo of Milan on the site where the Visconti castle would have stood and subjected to various transformations over the centuries. The 18th-century Villa Corbella-Martinelli-Sioli stands within a vast park open to the public: not far from the entrance is the small church of S.Bernardo, once part of the villa, where there is a fresco of the Virgin of the Assumption painted by Bernardino Luini, an important 15th-century Lombard artist. Other villas, Po Degli Occhi, Verzolo Monzini and Villa Ponti.
Solaro (MI)
Local history is all centered around the oratory of SS. Ambrose and Catherine, a fundamental testimony of Lombard Gothic art. Some important archaeological finds have emerged at this site: two tombs and the ancient foundations of a building predating the small church have resurfaced. Within the Groane Park vast moorland moors are colored by the intense flowering of the calluna in late summer; old ruins of furnaces and ancient patrician villas with their gardens mark the landscape of a time gone by, such as Villa Khewenhiller, currently the seat of the City Council.
Cesate (MI)
Cesate is home to the closest natural forest to Milan and consists mainly of a pine forest rich in tall lodgepole pine; planted in the 18th century at the behest of Maria Theresa of Austria. Formerly the park's Oriented Nature Reserve, it has also been proposed as a European Site of Community Interest. Inside there are many paths, organized in a circular pattern, and easily navigable also thanks to various footbridges. Manuè Lake is one of the most precious and suggestive corners of the Groane Park thanks to the many animal and plant species that live there. (ph flickr @auerochs.dalmatina)
Garbagnate Milanese (MI)
The Permanent Exhibition of Peasant Life and Furnaces, which can be visited at the restored premises of the Cascina Siolo, houses the tools and materials that characterized peasant life throughout the Upper Milanese region between the 19th and 20th centuries. The Nobili Court, the town's most architecturally interesting monument, built between the 16th and 17th centuries, consists of seven stone arches on graceful Doric columns. The Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary (former parish church) has the honor of housing an ancient 18th-century altar with two statues of Angels.
Pero (MI)
The oldest historically mentioned temple is the one in Cerchiate; as early as 1148 there is mention of a small church owned by the Benedictine nuns of the Monastery of San Maurizio in Milan (today's Monastero Maggiore) Worth mentioning is certainly the Molino Dorino, the last mill with millstones, gears and transmission belts still intact existing in the Milan area: undoubtedly the whole building is still in good condition. The characteristics of the milling ditch gave the water a conspicuous hydraulic force, a pushing capacity that made the wheel move efficiently. (ph: milano.corriere.it)
Caronno Pertusella (VA)
Caronno Pertusella is a municipality in the province of Varese, but is part of the Milan metropolitan area. Caronno is named in the description of the boundaries of the ancient rural county of Seprio made by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The Church of the Purification was blessed on April 21, 1500. Of relevant artistic importance are the paintings in the presbytery: the altarpiece by Bernardino Campi (1560), depicting the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and the cycle of frescoes by Giovan Paolo Lomazzo (1566); the latter represent "The Marriage of the Virgin," The "Nativity," the "Adoration of the Magi," and the "Flight into Egypt"; the frescoes in the arcosolium are also valuable and enchanting. (ph: saronnonews.it)

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