Cassina Baraggia is a hamlet of
Brugherio
Brugherio (; in lmo, Brughee ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan.
It was established December 9, 1866 unifying the suppressed municipalities of Ba ...
's
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, which until 1866 was a separate municipality.
History
Origins
Etymology
The name ''Baraggia'' comes from the word ''baragia'', meaning "little fertile land" or "uncultivated" land. ''Cassina'', however, comes from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''castrum'' meaning "camp", indicating a farmhouse which was inhabited by more than one family.
In the
Roman imperial period
The Roman imperial period is the expansion of political and cultural influence of the Roman Empire. The period begins with the reign of Augustus (), and it is taken to end variously between the late 3rd and the late 4th century, with the beginning ...
, the uncultivated lands were part of a mutual fund, with
open grazing, which extended to the whole territory of Brugherio. With the arrival of the
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
the land began to be cultivated and inhabited by private owners.
First documented sources
''Baragia''
's name appears for the first time in 769 when Grato, Roman inhabitant of
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
, set free one of his servants and gave him a land in the village ''de Barazia''. The name can also be found documented in 853, during the donation of certain assets to the monastery of
Saint Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...
of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
by two Romans. That same document shows that there was a chapel of
Saints Cosmas and Damian
Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were r ...
(now
Saint Anne Church) in the area, in turn dependent on the monastery of Saint Ambrose.
The building is now located in the hamlet of
San Damiano (which did not exist as such at the time). During the 12th century the Milanese territory was divided into counties and parishes. In the parish of
Vimercate
Vimercate (; lmo, label=Brianzöö, Vimercaa ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Monza and Brianza, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is from Milan and from Monza.
Its name (whose first finding dates back to the year 745) derives from t ...
, ''Brugherium'' and ''Sanctus Damianus de Baraza'', were under ''Martesana's county''.
Between 15th century and 17th century
Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, appointed as feudal lords of Vimercate the family Secco Borella in 1475.
In 1554
Ludovico Maria Sforza gave the land of Vimercate to Count Ludovico Secchi. The last feudal lord was Luigi Trotti, son of Count Trotti (Senator Johannes Baptista) and Maria Giulia "Seccoborella".
On June 15, 1578, with the pastoral visit of Archbishop
Charles Borromeo
Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat a ...
,
the property was incorporated into the
parish of Saint Bartholomew. The next day, the archbishop visited
the chapel of Saint Margaret, itself annexed to the house of Giovanni Battista Bernareggi (today called
Villa Brivio) in Baraggia. In 1594 the Inhabitants of Baraggia numbered about a hundred. In 1621, the year of the pastoral visit of
Federigo Borromeo
Federico Borromeo (18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan, a prominent figure of Counter-Reformation Italy.
Early life
Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borro ...
to the church of Saint Bartholomew, Baraggia numbered 96 inhabitants.
Between 18th century and 1866
In 1721 and in 1751 land registry maps of the territory were realized by
Charles VI and his daughter,
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
. The map of 1721 (updated in 1751) shows Cassina Baraggia and Cassina Brugherio Saint Ambrose as being together, even though they were distinct communities, part of the
Pieve of Vimercate. In 1751 Cassina Baraggia housed 160 inhabitants:
the majority of the owners were not noble, but the nobles indeed held most of land, the largest extension of which belonged to the nuns of the Convent of Santa Caterina alla Chiusa of Milan.
In the town of Cassina Baraggia there were six blocks of several houses, including
Villa Brivio, at the current
Palazzo Ghirlanda Silva of Count Gio Batta Scotti.
In the territory of Baraggia there were also two houses, including the
Cascina Sant'Ambrogio
Cascina Sant'Ambrogio is the oldest among the farmhouses in Brugherio, Italy. It is annexed to Saint Ambrose Church from which it takes its name.
History The ''coenobium'' of Saint Marcellina
During the fourth century, ''Via dei Mille'' wa ...
with the church itself.
In addition to the cultivation of
vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...
s, from the middle of the century the cultivation of
mulberry trees
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
had spread enormously in the region, and was planted on the edge of the fields, so as not to supplant other crops. The mulberry trees were used to feed the
silk worms
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically im ...
, which were given by the owner to the tenant farmers. Mostly women and children worked on the breeding of silk worms. The explosion of silk worm translated as the construction of a
textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
in Baraggia (another being placed in
Moncucco
Moncucco was an autonomous Italian municipality until March 30, 1871, when due to a royal decree it became a hamlet of the town of Brugherio, established in 1866. The actual village is located south of Brugherio, along the road that leads from Mil ...
), where the first phase of production of
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
(
reeling) was performed.
[
In 1805 Cassina Baraggia counted with 516 inhabitants.] In 1809, a decree of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
caused the annexation of Cassina Baraggia to Carugate
Carugate ( lmo, Carugaa ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan.
Carugate borders the following municipalities: Agrate Brianza, Caponago, Brugherio, P ...
. With the return of the Austrians in 1816, Cassina Baraggia became autonomous. In 1853, an estimated 1,240 inhabitants populated the land, becoming 1268 in the year 1861. On December 9, 1866 the Royal Decree number 3395 was signed by Vittorio Emanuele II
Victor Emmanuel II ( it, Vittorio Emanuele II; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di House of Savoy, Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was Kingdom of Sardinia, King of Sardinia from 1849 until 17 Marc ...
, leading to the town's annexation by Brugherio
Brugherio (; in lmo, Brughee ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan.
It was established December 9, 1866 unifying the suppressed municipalities of Ba ...
. Giovanni Noseda, mayor of Cassina Baraggia became the first mayor of Brugherio.
The textile mill of Baraggia
The textile mill of Baraggia is a former industrial building located in Via San Francesco d'Assisi 19, Brugherio. At the beginning of '900 it was one of the four towns spinning mills, along with "Filanda Beretta" in Via Tre Re, "Filanda Santini Ronchi Spada" in via Dante and "Filanda Strazza" in Via Santa Margherita. It was called ''filandùn'' and it is currently private property, holds apartments and warehouses.
History
At the end of the eighteenth century, the site where the textile mill will be built was a countryside meadow owned by Count Giovanni Battista Durini, who held large estates in Cassina Baraggia.[ Less than a century later, during the ]Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...
, in that place there was a rectangular court, which planimetry corresponds to the one has come down to present day: almost completely closed, with a single entrance from Municipal Road that from Cassina Baraggia goes to Carugate
Carugate ( lmo, Carugaa ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan.
Carugate borders the following municipalities: Agrate Brianza, Caponago, Brugherio, P ...
. The spinning mill was built in the second half of the nineteenth century and it was used for the first phase of silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
processing, the reeling, in which the filament was extracted from the cocoon to wrap on reels. Between 1873 and 1894, the court was completely closed: the portion facing the street was elevated and, to the east of the building, it was built a group of houses intended for laborers employed in the factory. In the second half of the twentieth century, Baraggia underwent a slow decline. The Marquis Brivio, owners of most of the assets and land located in the hamlet, paid scant and manufacturing, with the textile industry crisis, were gradually abandoned. Remained empty, some houses and cottages in the courtyard collapsed from neglect. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the municipality made a recovery plan of the entire historical center of the neighborhood. In this context, even the old textile mill has been restructured: at present it is a building that has partially retained the original architecture, adapted to new functions, even housing.
Architecture
The building plan is a rectangular closed courtyard, delimited by buildings of two and three floors, which are the result of the restoration of the twenty-first century. Ancient mill remains internal to the court building, originally a double-height floor, partly renovated to form two plans for houses. The supporting structures are in brick tile, the main body is on round arches pillars, partly buffered. The floors are generally of masonry, the cover is in wooden trusses with a gable roof and a mantle of brick tiles. The building has decorations, such as external ornaments.
References
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{{authority control
Frazioni of Brugherio