Monluè 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 ...

, part of the Zone 4 administrative division, located east of the city centre. It is a small residential district that originated as a rural settlement. As a consequence of its isolation from the city proper, it has maintained wide green areas (the most notable of which is Monluè Park) and the general appearance of a small country town. The prominent landmark of the district is the eponymous Cascina Monluè, an ancient abbey built by the

Humiliati The Humiliati (Italian ''Umiliati'') were an Italian religious order of men formed probably in the 12th century. It was suppressed by a papal bull in 1571 though an associated order of women continued into the 20th century. Origin The origin of ...

religious order, that has been later adapted as a ''

cascina Cascina () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about west of Florence and about southeast of Pisa. Cascina is located on the left shore of the Arno River, on a markedly plain terrain. ...

'' (farmhouse) and is now used as the venue for a number of concerts and cultural events, especially in summer.Casina Monluè
Also of interest is the Church of Saint Lawrence, also built by the Humiliati in the 13th century.

History

A distinct rural settlement in Monluè is reported at least since the Middle Ages; it was originally called ''Mons Luparium'' (in

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 ...

, meaning "mountain - or hill - of the wolves"). This toponymy suggests that, back then, the area was probably more hilly than it is today, and that the forests between Monluè and Milan used to be infested by wolves. Despite the inhospitable environment, friars from the

religious order founded an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

in Monluè in the 13th century. They reclaimed the land, and a small rural town gradually developed in the surroundings of the abbey. When the Humiliati religious order was suppressed in 1571, all their belongings were confiscated by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who adapted the abbey as a farmhouse. The church was modified in 1584 and restored in 1877. In the early 20th century, the Monluè complex was ceded to the Pio Albergo Trivulzio (a humanitarian Milanese institution). The ex abbey (now Cascina Monluè) is now owned by the city of Milan; the church of Saint Lawrence is still consecrated and in use. As a difference with other border districts of Milan, such as

Ponte Lambro Ponte Lambro ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about east of Como. Ponte Lambro borders the following municipalities: Caslino d'Erba, Castelm ...

to the south, Monluè has never experienced a true industrialization process; on the other hand, agricultural activities in the area have been gradually dismissed, so that the population has been decreasing rather than increasing over time, an unusual trend in the Milanese area.

External links

Monluè on The Campanile Project

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monlue Districts of Milan