Parabiago (

Milanes Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ') is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

e: ; la, Parabiacum) is a town located in the north-western part of the

Metropolitan City of Milan The Metropolitan City of Milan ( it, città metropolitana di Milano; lmo, label=Milanese, cittaa metropolitana de Milan ) is a metropolitan city (not to be confused with the metropolitan area) in the Lombardy region, Italy. It is the second mos ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, 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 re ...

. The town is crossed by the road to

Sempione The Simplon Pass (french: Col du Simplon; german: Simplonpass; it, Passo del Sempione, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Pass del Sempiün'') () is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig, ...

(S.S.33) and Milan

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction of railways to Va ...

Railway; nearby flow the

Olona The Olona (''Olona'' in Italian; ''Ulona'', ''Urona'' or ''Uòna'' in Western Lombard) is an Italian river belonging to the Po Basin, long, that runs through the Province of Varese and Metropolitan City of Milan whose course is developed ent ...

river and the

Canale Villoresi Canale Villoresi is a canal in Italy; it was the brainchild of Lombardy engineer Eugenio Villoresi. It originates from the River Ticino near the village of Somma Lombardo, and runs eastwards for to the Adda River. Construction began in 1877 ...

History

Ancient history and Middle Ages

Starting from the first

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic- insubrian settlement (4th century BC), it developed during the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

rule, as documented by various archaeological discoveries of little objects, including the

Parabiago Plate The Parabiago plate, also known as the Parabiago patera, is an ancient Roman circular silver plate depicting mythological figures. It was found in an ancient Roman cemetery at Parabiago, near Milan, in 1907. The plate depicts Cybele with her c ...

, a silver plate probably used to cover an ashes urn. In the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

, Parabiago was the centre of a parish (''pieve'') and of an autonomous county, named ''Comitatus Parabiagi'' and sometimes ''Burgaria'', governed by the Sanbonifacio family, of

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

descent, coming from

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

; in the 7th century, it received by the Lombard queen

Theodelinda Theodelinda also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570–628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when he ...

the permission for a little artificial stream, named ''Riale'' or ''Röngia'', which took water from the

river and travelled through the village: that stream lasted until the 1928, when it was definitively stilted up. The Truce of Parabiago (2829 August 1257) led to the Pace di Sant'Ambrogio (Saint Ambrose's Peace), so called because it was signed in the homonymous Basilica in

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 ...

). It put an end to the risk of a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

between nobles and people in the

free commune Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup. C ...

of Milan. On 21 February 1339, it was the location of the

Battle of Parabiago __NOTOC__The Battle of Parabiago was fought in February 1339 near Parabiago, in Lombardy, northern Italy, between the Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti. A renowned condottiero, the latter was an ex ...

between

Lodrisio Visconti Lodrisio Visconti (c. 1280 – 1364) was an Italian condottiero. Biography He was the son of Pietro, of the powerful Visconti of Milan, and Antiochia Crivelli. After military training under his father, he helped his cousin Matteo Visconti and ...

and

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, stage director, and screenwriter. A major figure of Italian art and culture in the mid-20th century, Visconti was one of the fat ...

with his nephew

Azzone Azzone (; lmo, label=Bergamasque, Sù) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population ...

, for the dominion over the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

; the battle was won by the Milanese regular army; according to tradition, this happened thanks to the miraculous apparition 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 ...

. During this time, the Crivelli family inherited from the Sanbonifacio family the County of Parabiago, perhaps still corresponding with the Burgaria County. In the following centuries Parabiago had a slow decline; it suffered two pillages, in 1449 by

Francesco Sforza Francesco I Sforza (; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) duke from 1450 until his death. In the 1420s, he participated in the War of L'A ...

and in 1527 by Bourbons of Spain, as well as two epidemics (1529 and 1540).

Modern Age

During Spanish rule in the

, the Marquis Camillo Castelli bought the Fief of Parabiago for 8800 ''lire'' (26 September 1658); the family extinguished in 1783, with the death of Cardinal Giuseppe Castelli. Parabiago developed in the 18th century, during the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

rule. Between the 19th and 20th centuries the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

reached Parabiago. The most active industrialists were Felice Gajo, who established the ''Unione Manifatture di Parabiago'' (''United Manufacturing of Parabiago'') (textiles), and Paolo Castelnuovo, who founded in 1899 the first shoe factory in the town. Since then, Parabiago is known as the ''Città della Calzatura'' (''Shoes City'').

20th century

In the 1960s Parabiago like other cities and towns in

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

experienced an economic boom followed by a demographic one. Industrialization caught on, the little traditional shoemakers established middle and big shoe factories; chemical and mechanical industries were born, and attracted immigration from

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

. On 27 November 27, 1985 the town took the title of City. In the early 1990s the majority of the Town Council, formed by D.C. (

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

), P.S.I. (

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

) and P.R.I. (

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long histo ...

), was forced to resign by the

Tangentopoli ''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italian ...

scandal about the new urbanistic plan, and some important local politicians were arrested.

Transport

In the district there is one stop of Metro Line S5, even if there is a project of the construction of another stop near the border with

Nerviano Nerviano ( lmo, Nervian ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the northwestern part of the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of downtown Milan. Its territory is crossed by the Olona The Olona (''Ol ...

Bourough. One Regional Railway station operated by

Trenord Trenord is a railway company which is responsible for the operation of regional passenger trains in Lombardy. The company was established by the two main railway companies in Lombardy, Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM), to manage train oper ...

is present in the city. Some Movibus (local bus lines) link the town with other boroughs.

International relations

Parabiago is twinned with: *

Samobor Samobor () is a city in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area. Administratively it is a part of Zagreb County. Geography Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samobor hills ( hr, Samo ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Sources

* Marco Ceriani, ''Storia di Parabiago, vicende e sviluppi dalle origini ad oggi'', (History of Parabiago), Unione Tipografica di Milano, 1948 * Egidio Gianazza, ''Uomini e cose di Parabiago'' (Men and things from Parabiago), Comune di Parabiago, 1990 * Raul Dal Santo, Matteo Dolci, ''Ipotesi di definizione del paesaggio dell’altomilanese in epoca imperiale romana'' (Hypothesis about the Alto Milanese country during Roman Empire), Comune di Parabiago, 2006
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References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Lombardy