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This Garden is inside the Rotonda di Via Besana, a late Baroque elegant building with wavy lines, built between 1695 and 1732 by the architects A. Arrigoni and F. Croce.

This place used to be the nearby Maggiore Hospital’s cemetery for the poor people, especially for the younger ones, then during the Napoleonic occupation it became a “famedio” (a building intended for the burial or commemoration of famous people), later a barrack, and a barn. The hospital eventually donated it to the municipality in 1939 and, after a major renovation, it was used as a public facility.

Today, the elegant arcade retains its garden (less than 2.4 acre-wide) with the XVIII century deconsecrated church in the centre. This building has hosted the Children’s Museum of Milan since 2014.

Dogs are not allowed. This is a precious green space in the city centre, which is often a very elegant venue for events and exhibitions, but a place for relaxation and peace right in the heart of the city frenzy.

The main plant species are sycamore maples (Acer pseudoplatanus), beeches (Fagus sylvatica “Asplenifolia”), and empress trees (Paulownia tomentosa); among the shrub species there’s boxwood (Buxus spp.), laurustine (Viburnum tinus) and, quite obviously, roses.

photo source: https://www.salteditions.it/una-mattina-alla-rotonda-della-besana/

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)