Legnano (; or Lignàn) is a town and comune (municipality) in the province of Milan, about from central Milan. With 60,259, it is the thirteenth-most populous township in Lombardy. Legnano is located in the Alto Milanese and is crossed by the Olona River.
The history of Legnano and its municipal area has been traced back to the 1st millennium BC via archaeological evidence. Already in remote times, in fact, the hills that line the Olona had proved to be habitable places. The town was established in 1261.
Because of the historic victory of the Lombard League over Frederick Barbarossa at Legnano, it is the only town other than Rome named in the Italian national anthem ("[...] Dall'Alpi a Sicilia dovunque è Legnano [...]", en. "From the Alps to Sicily, Legnano is everywhere"). Every year the people of Legnano commemorate the battle with Palio di Legnano. In the institutional sphere, on 29 May, the date of the battle of Legnano, it was chosen as the regional holiday of Lombardy.
Geography Territory
Located in the south of the Varese Prealps along the , the comune of Legnano has an area of , has an elevation of above sea level, and is in Zone 4 (Irrelevant seismology).
The valley soil is mainly composed of sand, gravel, and clay. A thin layer of humus also used to coat the valley, rendering it a moorland useless to agriculture.
Hydrography
Legnano is crossed by the Olona River, which cuts Legnano into two nearly equally sized portions. The Olona has a number of deviations both natural, such as the , located near Visconti Castle, and artificial. The latter of these are the diversionary channels and levees that encase much of the river as it flows through Legnano, especially around the former and cotton mills.
These were built because the Olona was prone to damaging floods, but consequently made the Olona one of the most polluted rivers in Italy. The pollution of the river is gradually lessening, however, while the last damaging flood occurred on 13 September 1995, and the last in chronological order occurred in July 2014.
For the vast majority of the city's stretch, the waterway is pernilted into levee or stone embankments, which were built to minimize flooding. The Olona, before the construction of embankments and drainage channels, was in fact a river that scourged with frequent floods the areas it crosses.
In the past there were deviations of the course of the river: natural, such as the Olonella, and artificial, such as the canals and the disclaimed by the peasants. The latter were necessary to reach, for irrigation purposes, the land farthest from the Olona. The extraction of water from the river, and more generally the activities related to the exploitation of the Olona, were regulated over the centuries, by contracts and regulations.
Urban planning
The urban fabric of Legnano has developed around the old town; its growth was influenced by three barriers: the Olona River, the strada statale del Sempione and the Domodossola–Milan railway.
The city was the protagonist of a progressive urbanization that led to a considerable expansion of the population center. At the origin of this phenomenon was the birth of many industries that attracted workers from different parts of Italy. As can be seen from the demographic evolution, between 1871 and 1921 the population of Legnano quadrupled. Due to the need for water, the mussel industries born in the 19th century sprung up along the shores of the Olona. As a result, the new residential districts have occupied the free areas beyond the river valley.
As a result of the growth of Legnano, the companies have built their locations more and more on the outskirts. Then, the various economic crises that followed in the decades of the 20th century led to the birth of many brownfield sites that are recovering. The most important urban intervention, which was carried out at the beginning of the 21st century, was the recovery from the former Cotonificio Cantoni, an area of 110,000 square meters that was destined to residential and commercial area.
Historical subdivisions In Legnano there is a historical subdivision into neighborhoods. The historic neighborhoods of Legnano are Mazzafame, Ponzella, Frati, Olmina, Canazza, Gabinella, Legnanello, Colli di Sant'Erasmo and Costa San Giorgio. The part of the town to the west of the railway is called oltrestazione, while the part to the east of the strada statale del Sempione is called oltresempione. The eight historical contrade competing at the Palio di Legnano are San Bernardino, La Flora, Legnarello, San Domenico, San Magno, San Martino, Sant'Ambrogio and Sant'Erasmo.
Climate
According to , Legnano is in Zone E with a rating of 2451 GR/G. Due to its location in the upper Po Valley, Legnano has a Continental climate with cold winters characterized by many days of snowfall and fog. Summers are hot humid, and moderately wet; temperatures can exceed and humidity 80%. That humidity persists for the entire year because of precipitation brought on by cyclones originating in the Mediterranean or in the Russian north. That precipitation itself remains in the Po Valley because of its poor ventilation.
Data from the indicates that, based on the more than thirty years (1961–1990) of reference accumulated by the World Meteorological Organization, that the average temperature of the Milan area the coldest month, January, is and that of the hottest month, July, is . Rainfall averages at and has peaks in spring and autumn, countered by a relative drop during the winter.
The basic climatic data of Legnano are:
Toponymy
The toponymy of the name "Legnano" is uncertain, as the early settlement was known by several names, but it is obvious that Legnano's name is older than that of the surrounding municipalities. "Legnano" could have originated as a predial adjective, formed from the name of the most prominent landowner in the area. In Legnano's case, this landowner's name could have been Lemennius or Limenius, to which was adjoined the suffix -anum. This land ownership was more extensive than the modern comune of Legnano having a surface corresponding to his modern urban area, the "Legnanese".
This would confirm the complete Latinization of the Legnano area around 1st century AD; in other places where Celtic influence was still substantial, the suffix -acum would have been used. Thus, the ancient name of Legnano became Lemoniano, Leminiano or Lemegniano, later Limnianum and finally Legnanum.
Another theory advances that one of the names that Legnano was known by in the Middle Ages, Ledegnanum, derives from the name for the region, Latinanium. Therefore, any suppositions linking the name of the city to the Celtic toponym Lemonianum ("place of the sacred grove") or the predial adjective Laenianum, referring to a potential landowner named Laenius are false.
The period of foundation Legnano is unknown: the name would have at least medieval origins. According to the most important hypotheses, the genesis of ancient Legnano, whose most likely name is Latinanium, dates back to before the birth of Christ, in Roman times.
Coat of arms
The origin of this coat of arms can be clearly traced back to a coat of arms reproduced on page 193 of the Stemmario Trivulziano. In this ancient volume it can be read that the coat of arms of Legnano is very similar to that of Stemmario Cremosano.
The subject and the colors in the coat of arms of the municipality of Legnano are linked to a legend. In an unspecified historical period, in today's Piazza San Magno, a large Turkey oak. On the day of the patron saint san Magno, 5 November, a farmer began to contemplate the tree admiring its ability to withstand frost and snow. The farmer thus expressed a desire to be able to withstand the difficulties of life in the same way. At that moment, san Magno appeared, offering to satisfy man's desire by giving him the vigour, recklessness, and power of a lion.
The saint ordered the farmer to kill a rabbit and advance on the snow-soaked ground, where the animal's blood had been shed. The farmer followed orders and then san Magno fulfilled his dream by turning him into a lion. After the prodigy, the saint suddenly disappeared without appeasing the farmer who asked to return man, thus chastising his pride. The tree and the lion, along with the white of the snow and the red blood of the rabbit, became the symbols of Legnano, and were included in the coat of arms and in the municipal skirt.
On 15 August 1924, the municipality of Legnano was granted the title of city.
History
Prehistory and Roman times
The most ancient evidence of settlement in Legnano dates to the Remedello culture (21st–19th centuries BC). Later it was a Celtic center, conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC.
Since ancient times the inhabitants of Legnano lived on the edge of the river Olona Valley. These land, higher than the river, were not flooded by the regular floods of the waterway. As a result, the most important archaeological finds, from prehistory to Roman rule, were discovered along the edges of the Olona valley; these finds mainly refer to inhumations.
The oldest furnishings found in Legnano are fragments of a vase that can be traced back to Remedello's culture. They were born between 1926 and 1928 near the border between Castellanza and Legnano, dating from between 34th century BC and 22nd century BC. Bronzes dating back to the 4th century BC and 1st century BC (linked to La Tène culture) have been found from an archaeological site near the strada statale del Sempione.
The ancient vicus of Legnanum, which belonged to the regio XI Transpadana, one of Italy's Augustean regions, was connected to the surrounding areas through important communication routes, the most important of which was a Roman road built in the 1st century AD, the Via Severiana Augusta, which skirted the Olona River at the modern strada statale del Sempione, which connected ancient Mediolanum (the modern Milano) to Lake Maggiore.
The most important Roman-era finds were discovered in 1925 in a necropolis in the east of the city. The necropolis contained coins, plates, cups, glasses, balsamari, mirrors, and iron utensils. Other tombs dating back to the same period were found in 1985 near the old town, while other archaeological excavations revealed late Roman objects. This kit consisted of pebbles, knives, razors and buckles. All these objects are on display in the Museo civico Guido Sutermeister.
Middle Ages
The first document received on the history of Legnano concerns the quartier of Legnanello. This act, which refers to a trade in land located in the small neighbour, is dated 23 October 789. Within this written testimony can be read:
This written testimony in English means "[...] with our properties in Legnanello [...]". It seems that Legnanello existed as early as 687, when the religious celebration of the Candlemas (the Candelora) began, introduced by Pope Sergius I, who officiated every 2 February.
The first mention of the main settlement of Legnano is related to the capture of Arialdo, head of the pataria, which took place inside the castle of the Cotta in Legnano, that was built in 10th century and demolished in 13th/14th century (this fortification was one of military outpost of Lombard League during the Battle of Legnano, fought on 29 May 1176).
On the Historia Mediolanensis written by Landulf Junior in the 11th century which deals with the history of Milan in the Middle Ages, it can in fact be read that Arialdo was captured: