Milan - Gaggiano cruise - City section of future Locarno–Milan–Venice tourist route

Departing from the Porta Ticinese dock, a junction for commercial transport to and from Lake Maggiore, we head upstream along the Naviglio Grande, passing under the Scodellino bridge. From here we can see the Vicolo dei Lavandai, one of the numerous public washhouses along the Naviglio Grande, where for centuries the women of Milan handwashed clothes. Slipping quietly through the water, we reach the church of San Cristoforo, one of the most celebrated churches along the first section of the Naviglio Grande, where duchesses, kings, and emperors once entered Milan by canal. On the right bank, along Via Ludovico il Moro, note the sculpted mouths, built for drawing off water for irrigation. The canals still irrigate 60 thousand hectares (148 thousand acres) of cultivated land on the plains around Milan and Pavia. After passing what was once the Richard Ginori factory, we come to a relic from the industrial past: an elevator that once connected the canal to the ex–San Cristoforo railway station. On the right bank of the canal is the commune of Buccinasco where we see the first farmstead of our voyage. We then pass through Corsico, originally a farming village that has grown into a small city. Beyond the town center we come to the Cascina Guardia di Sopra, a farmstead built around the canal and one of the oldest on the Naviglio. The main entrance to the farmstead is still surmounted by the coat of arms of the ruling Visconti family. The canal that for centuries has irrigated the farm’s extensive lands is also named after the Viscontis. Our cruise continues on to Trezzano sul Naviglio and, after passing through a long stretch of countryside, we come to Gaggiano. In the picturesque town center, once a port on the Naviglio and known as Navigium de Gazanum (since during the early stages of its construction the canal ended at Gaggiano), we can admire the austere beauty of the Villa Marino and the colorful restored facades along the banks. Our cruise of the Naviglio Grande ends just before it passes under the Vigevano road bridge, near the 18th-century Palazzo Venini Uboldi, where we can also admire the baroque facade of the church of Sant’Invenzio sul Naviglio Grande.

The Naviglio Grande

The oldest canal in Milan, the Naviglio Grande (also known as the “Naviglio Maggiore”) was built when Milan was a city-state, reusing sections of the Ticinello, an irrigation canal that formed the border between Milan and Pavia. It was extended to Gaggiano in the 12th century. The canal was originally used for irrigation. Navigation began in the second half of the 13th century and flourished after 1387 with the transport of marble from Condoglia to Milan for building the city’s cathedral. Used for transporting sand, gravel, and pebbles up to 1975, the Naviglio Grande remains navigable and is still used for irrigation.