South Milan Agricultural Park

Introduction

Description

The Parco Agricolo Sud Milano, with its 47,000 hectares, extends along the southern semicircle of the Milan Metropolitan City, creating a green belt around the metropolis. The protected territory is characteristic of the Milanese irrigated plain, with numerous farmsteads still in activity today, marcite, rows of poplar trees, irrigated crops and resurgences. The areas of greatest naturalistic value are the heads of the numerous springs. Forests, on the other hand, are rare due to the intensive transformation of agriculture in recent decades. Wildlife is represented by dormice, badgers, weasels, beech martens, foxes, wild rabbits and hares, while the wnid areas are an important resting place for a rich birdlife. The real wealth of the park is water, which has enabled the development of some of the most profitable agriculture in Europe. Alongside natural watercourses such as the Lambro, Addetta, Ticinello and Vettabbia, an extraordinary irrigation network has been created over the centuries, consisting of the Grande and Pavese canals and numerous springs that are still active today. The secret of these fertile lands is revealed in the laborious human intervention that patiently reclaimed a landscape that originally appeared as an uninterrupted expanse of marshes and wet woods. This occurred from the Middle Ages onwards at the hands of the Cistercian monks who built a new abbey here. The area is rich in historical-architectural features: the abbeys of Chiaravalle, Mirasole and Viboldone, the castles of Tolcinasco and Zibido, the Trenzanesio Estate, the various rural nuclei and the system of large square courtyard farmsteads.

Information

Year founded: 1990
Area: 46.300 hectares
Maximum elevation:
Municipalities involved: Albairate, Arluno, Assago, Bareggio, Basiglio, Binasco, Bubbiano, Buccinasco, Calvignasco, Carpiano, Casarile, Cassina de' Pecchi, Cernusco sul Naviglio, Cerro al Lambro, Cesano Boscone, Cisliano, Colturano, Corbetta, Cornaredo, Corsico, Cusago, Dresano, Gaggiano, Gorgonzola, Gudo Visconti, Lacchiarella, Liscate, Locate di Triulzi, Mediglia, Melegnano, Melzo, Milan, Noviglio, Opera, Pantigliate, Paullo, Pero, Peschiera Borromeo, Pieve Emanuele, Pioltello, Pregnana Milanese, Rho, Rodano, Rosate, Rozzano, San Donato Milanese, San Giuliano Milanese, Sedriano, Segrate, Settala, Settimo Milanese, Trezzano sul Naviglio, Tribiano, Vanzago, Vermezzo, Vernate, Vignate, Vittuone, Vizzolo Predabissi, Zelo Surrigone, Zibido San Giacomo
 Institutional site: parcosud.cittametropolitana.mi.it/parcosud/en/index.html
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