U22-2010

Lombardy is the wealthiest, most highly developed and most densely populated region of Italy.
Milan, the region's capital, is a great city of industry and commerce, the driving force behind all new trend setting, from fashion to technological innovation, from advertising to design and life styles ...
Yet, beneath its thick cloak as a dynamic metropolis projected towards the future, Milan conceals an eventful cultural life and extraordinary artistic treasures.
Visitors are spoilt for choice; from the Duomo to La Scala Opera House, from the Sforzesco Castle to the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Basilica of St. Ambrogio and the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (with the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci).
Lombardy offers visitors a wide variety of superb natural landscapes; lakes, rivers, hills, thermal baths, mountains, parks (amongst them the Parco dello Stelvio), not to mention monuments and art works of the highest order in Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantua, Monza, Pavia, Sondrio and Varese.
From the Romanesque to the Gothic, from the Renaissance to the Baroque, from prehistoric graffiti to the most audacious and innovative architectural and artistic solutions of contemporary times; Lombardy never ceases to amaze!

SEVESO
Seveso bears the same name as the watercourse that rises in the province of Como, almost on the Swiss border, and marks the western “boundary” of Brianza. The old Seuse, perhaps of Gallic-Roman origin (4th-3rd cent. BC), is now a vibrant industrial town linked mainly to the production of furniture, on the main SS35 Giovi road. First mentioned in a document dated 996 and an important parish, in 1252 it was the site where heretics assassinated Friar Pietro da Verona, Papal inquisitor of Milan and Como, as commemorated by the name of the hamlet of San Pietro Martire. Canonised in less than a year, his remains are conserved in Milan in the Basilica of S. Eustorgio. Shortly afterwards, a monastery Seminario Minore in San Pietro Martire was built in Seveso (now the hamlet of Farö) and named after the Dominican friar, and a new village quickly grew up around it. The architect Gerolamo Quadrio rebuilt the annexed church to a commission by Bartolomeo III Arese, president of the Senate of Milan, from 1662 on. Inside, it has a central plan with a dome roof and works by some of the leading artists active in Milan in the second half of the 17th century such as Antonio Busca, Giuseppe Nuvolone, the Santagostino family, the Montalto family, Giovan Battista Costa and the sculptor was built in Seveso (now the hamlet of Farö) and named after the Dominican friar, and a new village quickly grew up around it. The architect Gerolamo Quadrio rebuilt the annexed church to a commission by Bartolomeo III Arese, president of the Senate of Milan, from 1662 on. Inside, it has a central plan with a dome roof and works by some of the leading artists active in Milan in the second half of the 17th century such as Antonio Busca, Giuseppe Nuvolone, the Santagostino family, the Montalto family, Giovan Battista Costa and the sculptor

Turning a threat into an opportunity On 10 July 1976, the area of Seveso and some of the neighbouring towns was
contaminated by a toxic cloud containing large quantities of dioxin, released after an accident in a chemical plant owned by the Swiss company ICMESA (Givoudan-La Roche group) in the adjoining Meda but close to the town of Seveso. A large number of its inhabitants were evacuated and the area was completely decontaminated.
The Bosco delle Querce is indication of how Seveso managed to fight back positively from the consequences of the accident. An educational, historical environmental itinerary created in the park by the Circolo di Legambiente
(Ponte della Memoria project) illustrates the event and the situation today.
Info:www.boscodellequerce.it; www.legambienteseveso.org.

Parco delle Groane
The Parco delle Groane is a long green strip of land spread over approximately 3400 hectares to the north and extending to 16 municipalities, for which it constitutes a metropolitan park. Its geological formation is the result of movement in the last glaciations, which pushed thick waterproof layers of clay, reddened by their iron hydroxide content, to the surface. Hence the term “ferritisation” referring to the outer layer of the terrain, which in this part of the Po valley is compact, waterproof and has a low oxygen content, making it little suited to farming because the more the land is worked the more it tends to become compact. Deep down, it is gravelly and sandy. The surface humidity favours a moorland habitat (one of the southernmost in Europe) made of large grasslands that turn violet in late summer with flowering heather, or calluna, a commonly found small shrub. It also features an abundance of buttercups, gentiana pneumonanthe and the rare Rosemary-leaf willow. Patchy woods of sparse Scots pine give way to thick oak groves, where oaks and English oak trees alternate with alders, hornbeams and maples, creating a hospitable habitat for squirrels, foxes, hares, owls, woodpeckers and kestrels. In certain areas, the waterproof terrain favours the formation of hollows of groana (ferritised soil), which after heavy rainfall become small lakes surrounded by typical vegetation comprising reeds and bulrushes, inhabited by sometimes rare amphibians.
The institution of the protected reserve has not only saved it from speculative development, it has also shown that nature can be safeguarded and enjoyed at the same time, so potential uses were made a special focus of its plan.Visits The country cycle routes that follow existing paths and tracks over approximately 35km are well kept and constantly being added to. Cycling is the ideal way to explore the cycling and walking theme tours suggested by the Consortium.
Città dei Mattoni: a mixed walking and cycling route that explores the old brick kilns; it starts from the Serenella di Garbagnate station and descends to the Fornace Castellazzo before crossing the railway and heading for Senago where there is a working kiln in via Isolino, and then continuing to the former Fornace Parodi.
Foppa di S. Dalmazio: a route that can be cycled all the way to the area, in Ceriano Laghetto, named after an old clay quarry that turns into a small lake after heavy rainfall; all around are woods of mixed trees.
Oasi di Lentate sul Seveso: you can cycle to this wetland zone developed around the pond that forms in a disused clay quarry popular with anatids and little bitterns, which nest here.
Bosco di Cesate e Laghetto Manuè: numerous circular foot and cycle paths run through the wood, which is home to an important pine grove planted in the 18th century by the Austrian forestry service. Lake Manuè is another precious habitat for the abundance of amphibian and bird fauna found.Boschi di S. Andrea e Boschi di Misinto Nature Reserve: a cycle route along the paths that lead to the areas of Misinto and Cogliate, shaded by thick woods of mixed trees such as oak, chestnut, Scots pine and false-acacia trees.
Ca’ del Re: a foot and cycle path in the Solaro area through typical moorland vegetation and a habitat of huge environmental and faunal worth.