Gorla (; lmo, Gòrla) is a district ("

quartiere A (; plural: ) is a territorial subdivision of certain Italian towns. The word derives from (‘fourth’) and was thus properly used only for towns divided into four neighborhoods by the two main roads. It has been later used as a synonymous ...

") 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 ...

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 re ...

. It is part of the Zone 2 administrative division, located north-east of the city centre. Before 1923, Gorla was an independent

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 also ...

. The name "Gorla" is probably derived 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 ...

word ''gulula'', meaning "little cleft".Dante Olivieri (1931), ''Dizionario di toponomastica lombarda''. La Famiglia Meneghina Editrice, Milan, p. 275 The district is traversed by Viale Monza, a major thoroughfare connecting Milan and

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 ...

, as well as the

Naviglio Martesana The Naviglio della Martesana ( lmo, Nivili de la Martexana or ''Martesanna'' ) is a canal in the Lombardy region, Northern Italy. Running from the Adda River, Italy, Adda river, in the vicinity of Trezzo sull'Adda, to Milan, it was also known as Na ...

canal. The most prominent architectural feature of Gorla consists in a number of 19th Century

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

s that were built along the Naviglio Martesana and served as country residences for rich Milanese families.

History

Gorla developed as a rural settlement until the late 19th century. Thereafter, the Milanese north-east quickly turned into an industrial area (most notably around

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; lmo, Sest San Giovann, label=Western Lombard ), locally referred to as just Sesto ( lmo, Sest, links=no), is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. Its railway station is the northernmost s ...

), a process that affected Gorla as well. In 1864, Gorla became a formal "

", named "Gorla Primo"; in 1920 Gorla and the bordering comune of

Precotto Precotto is a district ("quartiere") of Milan, Italy. It is part of the Zone 2 administrative division, located north-east of the city centre. Until 1920, Precotto was an autonomous ''comune''; then, it merged with the adjacent comune of Gorla i ...

merged into the new comune of Gorlaprecotto, a decision that was intended to preserve both comunes from being absorbed into Milan. Nevertheless, three years later, Gorlaprecotto was annexed to the city along with other 12 comunes.

The Little Martyrs of Gorla

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, on 20 October 1944, Gorla was the scene of a dramatic bombing by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. The bombing was allegedly intended to strike industrial structures, but the bombing group went off course due to a misinterpretation of the brief, even if the weather was exceptionally clear. Their commander, the U.S. then colonel James B. Knapp (1915 - 1999), upon realizing the mistake, decided to release the bombs on the town instead. Most victims were civilians, and one of the bombs hit a school, killing 184 children. The victims are now remembered as "the Little Martyrs of Gorla", and a memorial was built where the killing had taken place; a museum dedicated to peace has also been established in the area. The U.S. military never apologized for killing innocents due to their mistakes and inappropriate decisions.

Footnotes

Districts of Milan Former municipalities of Lombardy {{Milan-geo-stub