San Donato Milanese ( Milanese: ) 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 also ...

'' (municipality) in 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 ...

in the Italian region

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 ...

, located about southeast 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 ...

. It is served by the San Donato underground station right on the borderline between the town and

and by the

San Donato Milanese railway station San Donato Milanese railway station is a railway station in Italy. Located on the Milan–Bologna railway, it serves the town of San Donato Milanese. Services San Donato Milanese is served by lines S1 and S12 (currently suspended, as of June ...

, serving only trains for the

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 ...

S1 line " Saronno– Lodi" and vice versa.

History

Although the area was settled in ancient times, the origins of San Donato date back to the 7th century, when a '' pieve'' was founded here by the army of Grimoald I, Duke of Benevento. After a period under the Milanese family De Advocati, the town was a possession of the

archbishops of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has l ...

until the 16th century. A series of abbeys were founded in the area by

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

during the 11th century. Later

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

resided here after his destruction of Milan, while the

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

and the

Torriani The House of Della Torre (Torriani or Thurn) were an Italian noble family who rose to prominence in Lombardy during the 12th–14th centuries, until they held the lordship of Milan before being ousted by the Visconti of Milan, Visconti. History T ...

fought here (1278) for the possession of the duchy of Milan. The battle of Marignano was also fought nearby,

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

settled his headquarters here after the battle. Today San Donato is a modern industrial and services centre. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on the 30th of December 1976. On 3 October 2021, a

private plane "Private Plane", or "Plan D: Private Plane", is the fourth episode of ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', the fourth series of the BBC sitcom '' Blackadder''. Plot The episode begins with an ongoing artillery attack that is disturbing Blackadder's rest ...

crashed "Crashed" is the third U.S. rock single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stations, along with some Alternativ ...

into an empty building under renovation on San Donato Milanese after taking off from

to go to

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...

. The plane had 8 passengers, all of whom died. One of the deceased was Dan Petrescu, a Romanian businessman and billionaire, one of the richest people in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

at the time and the owner of the plane.

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Lombardy {{Milan-geo-stub