This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Located in the historic Affori district, this park surrounds the XVII century Villa Litta Modigliani, and it is the largest and oldest urban green area outside the city centre; some of the oldest and most impressive trees in Milan can be found here.

The construction of the villa began in 1687 when Affori was actually a village north of Milan. It was Marquis Pier Paolo Corbella who had it built, along with an Italian garden. Then, it became a property of the noble Trivulzio family, then of the Litta Modiglianis who enlarged the park, created a landscaped English garden and built the main avenue bordered by rows of plantains, in the course of the XIX century.

After some years of total neglection, in 1927 the Municipality of Milan acquired the villa and opened the park to the public. During the Second World War, especially in 1943, the park was severely damaged, and many trees were cut and used for the stoves.

Only in 1958 the villa was eventually restored and renovated, while between 2003 and 2005 the park was redesigned. Since 2018 people can use the beautifully restored villa for weddings and other ceremonies or public events, as this is undoubtedly one of the most historical places in Milan. In the room where wedding ceremonies take place, there is a section of the trunk of a plantain dating back to the Napoleonic era, which was cut in 2013 because sick and unsafe. It was nicknamed “El Rondelun”, weighing 1.322 pounds, with a diameter of more than 6.5 feet.

Inside the park, in the second half of the XVIII century, there was a monumental complex inspired by Egyptian sculptures called “I Sirenei”, consisting of two obelisks, two sphinxes, and two stone vases which, after the construction of the railway, were moved to the kindergarten near the primitive entrance to the villa.

In the park of Villa Litta, large green lawns and tree-lined areas featuring tall and majestic plantains, also house different varieties of maples (field, boxelder, Norway and silver), nettle trees, red oaks, the magnolias, black poplars, white hornbeams, beeches, pink horse chestnuts – incredibly tall – black walnuts and mulberry trees. There is also a paper mulberry specimen.

The park offers a very large playground, a football field, two basketball/volleyball courts and a large fenced area for dogs.

Photo source:
https://www.tripadvisor.it/Attraction_Review-g187849-d592169-Reviews-Villa_Litta_Modignani_Affori_Biblioteca_e_Parco-Milan_Lombardy.html

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)