The utterly flat territory is crossed by the Martesana canal and is bordered to the east by the Molgora stream. Numerous irrigation ditches and canals also form an irrigation network that covers the entire territory, taking water from the canal. Cassina de’ Pecchi is served by Line 2 of the Milan metro with the station of the same name. We took a walk in the village and reached the Mulino Dugnani.

Although it has been completely renovated for residential use, we can admire the room of the millstones and machines of the past. Even the structures located on the Roggia Sant’Agata retain their original connotations. We visit the church of St Agatha, dating back to the sixteenth century, and the Oratory of the Assumption from the sixteenth century, which unfortunately is in a state of abandonment and would require restoration.

In Cassina De’ Pecchi, we find the MAiO – Museum of Hostage Art and Visionary Graphics: the museum was created by the journalist and writer Salvatore Giannella with the noble intention of recovering the 1,651 works stolen mainly through the Nazis during the Second World War.

It is crossed from east to west by the Naviglio della Martesana, also known as Naviglio Piccolo, built at the end of the 15th century with the contribution of Leonardo da Vinci. Its historic center is one of the first to be made pedestrian in the Milanese hinterland, already in the 1980s.

Its past and its economic development are historically linked to the production of silk; some several monuments and places celebrate this activity: in Republic Square, with the sculpture by Nado Canuti, which represents the transformation of the silkworm into a cocoon and chrysalis, in  Matteotti Square there is a large mulberry tree, whose fruits the silkworms they are greedy.

Our walk can continue reaching the large Unity of Italy Square. Here, Villa Greppi immediately catches your attention. Don’t miss its gardens, which were recently renovated and are home to the municipal offices. The Sanctuary of Santa Maria Addolorata is worth visiting close to the pedestrian center and right along the Naviglio. The other crucial religious building is the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, which has long vicissitudes and was consecrated by Cardinal Archbishop Ildefonso Schuster on July 17, 1932.

Cernusco is crossed by over 70 km of cycle paths and is striking for the nature of its parks; the most recent is the large Parco dei Germani.

But Cernusco is also known for the elegance of its historic buildings and villas. In addition to the Villa  Biancani Greppi, there are Villa Alari Visconti and Villa Uboldo – home to the hospital – deserve particular attention, which, with its luxuriant English garden, now a public park, evokes an evocative romantic atmosphere.

These Villas  and their parks are destinations for guided tours, ideal destinations for a day to discover the treasures “outside Milan,” and fascinating contexts for the cultural and musical events organized throughout the year.

The Vimodrone territory is entirely flat. The town is crossed by the Martesana Canal and the state road 11 Padana Superiore. From a monumental point of view, the parish church of San Remigio stands out, already existing in the sixteenth century and rebuilt in the second half of the eighteenth century, as the Oratory of Santa Maria Nuova and the war memorial. The most significant building in the municipality is Villa Cazzaniga, located in the Gaggiolo area. It is a typical Lombard villa from the 18th century with a landing on the Naviglio Martesana, a park, and a private chapel, the only building directly overlooking the waterway. It comprises a residential wing dating back to the mid-eighteenth century and rustic parts of seventeenth-century origins.

The influence of the Lombard rulers can be found in the ancient Parish Church of San Giuliano, founded in the year 599, which bears an inscription on the façade that traces the construction back to the Queen of the Lombards, Teodolinda, even if the structure of the church is in Romanesque style and not gothic. The Christian origins of Cologno highlight that the Roman “colony” became, due to its importance, a Christian parish church in the early Middle Ages. With the municipalities of Brugherio and Sesto San Giovanni, Cologno Monzese hosts the Media Valle del Lambro Park. In contrast, with Brugherio, Cernusco sul Naviglio, Vimodrone, and Carugate, it hosts the Eastern Cave Park, characterized by small wooded areas. Cologno Monzese is connected to Milan by the Milan metro line and has four interurban ATM lines.

Limiting ourselves to a nod to the main places encountered along the route, we pass through the symbolic places of Milan, starting from the Duomo, a masterpiece of international Gothic and its 135 Spiers, and if possible, the unmissable collection of nineteenth century works of art  of the Museum of the Twentieth Century, the nineteenth-century Vttorio Emanuele Gallery, an authentic living room of the city with its mosaics and the dome of the central octagon in iron and glass. Opposite is the Teatro alla Scala, one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world. Built in 1776 on the site of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala at the behest of Empress Maria Teresa of Austria, designed by Piermarini, the Scala has hosted the works of the greatest Italian masters of the last three centuries, including Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, and Toscanini. Starting from 1951, the artistic season opens with the “premiere of 7 December”, the day Milan celebrates its patron saint Sant’Ambrogio with the traditional O bei O bei fair. Near the theatre, the Centro Studi Leonardo 3  (www.leonardo3.net) hosts a permanent exhibition dedicated to the figure and the works of Leonardo da Vinci, with more than two hundred interactive installations and physical and functioning reconstructions. The Brera district is one of the most elegant in the city, with streets populated with refined shops, luxury boutiques, and numerous workshops that supply materials to the artists and students of the Academy of Fine Arts, which has its historic headquarters in the Palazzo Brera. Two other prestigious cultural institutions are located in the same building. The first is the Brera Pinacoteca, which contains some of the greatest masterpieces of world art, among which the signatures of Andrea Mantegna, Raffaello Sanzio, Piero della Francesca, Caravaggio, Tintoretto, Francesco Hayez, Pellizza da Volpedo, Amedeo Modigliani stand out and Umberto Boccioni. The second is the Braidense National Library, commissioned by Maria Teresa of Austria. It opened its doors in 1786 and is today the third in Italy in book heritage, with approximately 1.5 million volumes.
For info: Municipality of Milan  www.comune.milano.it
One of the most peripheral districts of Milan, once a separate municipality, is Crescenzago, where you can admire one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in Milan, the Church of St Mary Red  (due to the color of the material used, the terracotta which alternates geometric decorations with the white plaster), whose foundation dates back to around 1140.
Despite the structure’s expansions and renovations, the notable fourteenth-century apse frescoes survive.