Abbiategrasso, formerly written Abbiate Grasso
[.] (local lmo, Biegrass ; lmo, label=
Milanese, Biaa ), is a ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...
'' and town in the
Metropolitan City of Milan,
Lombardy, northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, situated in the
Po valley approximately from
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...
and from
Pavia
Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...
.
History
The town dates from
Roman times. Its name indicates that it was part of a territory known as "'the fertile valley": a document of 1304 referring to the ''Habiate qui dicitur Grasso'', a title that gradually transformed into Abbiategrasso.
Abbiategrasso received the honorary title of city with a royal decree of 31 March 1932.
Main sights
*The
Visconti Castle (Italian: ''Castello Visconteo''), built in 1382 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti above a pre-existing 13th-century fortification. It was enlarged and decorated by
after 1438. It has a quadrangular plan with angular towers, and the interior has Renaissance frescoes and graffiti. The central court has a portico.
*Basilica church of ''Santa Maria Nuova'', built in 1388 to celebrate the birth of Gian Galeazzo Visconti's son. It is preceded by a Renaissance portico and as an unfinished façade (1497), whose pronaos is attributed to
Donato Bramante
Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance styl ...
.
*Baroque church of San Bernardino (17th century)
*15th century Casa Albini
Twin towns
Abbiategrasso is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with the following towns:
*
Ellwangen, Germany
*
Langres, France
People
*
Christian Abbiati, footballer
*
Franco Moschino, fashion designer
*
Giuseppina Tuissi, partisan during World War II
*
Marco Villa, road and track cyclist
References
External links
Official website
Cities and towns in Lombardy
{{Milan-geo-stub