Villapizzone 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. It belongs to the Zone 8, located north of the city centre. It was an autonomous ''

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 ...

'' until 1869.

History

The origins of Villapizzone traditionally traces back to the 6th century, when a saintly Greek monk named Atanasio Piccione settled down in a forest and began to lead a community of Greek friars. The place was named ''Villaggio Piccione'' or ''Villa Piccione'', hence Villapizzone. According to Giacomo Stella, who was the dean of the local church of San Martino in 1530, the friars initially deforested an area to cultivate it, then they built a little village consisting of some farmhouse and a church. Documented references to the ''

'' of Villapizzone date back at least to 1346. In the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

and until the 18th century, the ''comune'' used to be part of the ''

pieve In the Middle Ages, a pieve (, ; la, plebe, link=no; plural ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. The Italian word ''pieve'' is descended from Latin ''plebs'' which, after t ...

'' of

Trenno Trenno is a district ("quartiere") of Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 8 administrative division of the city. It borders on green areas to the north and west (on the Boscoincittà city park) and to the south (on the Parco di Trenno); to the east, it ...

. During

Napoleonic 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 wh ...

rule, in 1808, Villapizzone was annexed to Milan, but regained its autonomy in 1816 with the establishment of 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 1869 the ''comune'' was annexed to Musocco, which in turn became part of Milan municipality in 1923. Historical documents attest that, at that time, Villapizzone had its own cemetery, which was later dismantled. The core of the village was the parish church of San Martino, in front of which was built a villa, owned by the noble Radice Fossati family. A woodland, which was initially a portion of the ancient ''Bosco della Merlata'', was located in the area, and some of the trees that belonged to the forest are now beside of Via Paolo Mantegazza, in what is now the yard of the

Goffredo Mameli Goffredo Mameli (; 5 September 1827 – 6 July 1849) was an Italian patriot, poet, writer and a notable figure in the Risorgimento. He is also the author of the lyrics of "Il Canto degli Italiani", the national anthem of Italy. Biography The so ...

elementary school. Villapizzone remained a rural district until

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 opposing ...

; thereafter, it became part of a seamless residential area that includes

Bovisa Bovisa (, ) is a district (''quartiere'') of Milan, Italy, located north of the city center, in the Zone 9. The name is supposedly derived from the Italian word ''bove'', meaning ''ox'', as the area developed from an ancient rural settlement. Hi ...

Quarto Oggiaro Quarto Oggiaro (; lmo, Quart Oggiee ) is a district of Milan in the north-west of the city. It belongs to Zone 8, and has a population of 35000 inhabitants. Name The name Quarto Oggiaro derives from the ancient toponymy ''Quarto Uglerio'': t ...

and several other districts. The toponym "Villapizzone" itself was scarcely used for several decades; it reappeared in the late 20th century as a consequence of the construction of the station of the same name.

Transports

The suburb is served by the Milano Villapizzone railway station, which is located at the junction between the Turin-Milan railway and the

Milan Passante railway The Passante Ferroviario di Milano is an underground railway which runs through Milan, Italy. The first part was opened in 1997 and was completed in 2008.RFI. The station is served by three suburban lines (S5, S6 and S11) and by regional trains, managed 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 ope ...

. The station replaced the old Milano Bovisa railway station, dismantled in 1997. Several tram and bus lines connect Villapizzone to the city center and to nearby suburbs. Districts of Milan Former municipalities of Lombardy {{Milan-geo-stub