Main sights

Piazza Marconi the city centre  still has the original fourteenth-century arcades, alongside those of the sixteenth century. The town hall dates back to 1623.

Strategically located close to the Naviglio, the current castle was built at the end of the 13th century on the ruins of the previous one destroyed by Barbarossa in 1167. Over the centuries it was enlarged and renovated and many Dukes of Milan stayed in the castle of Abbiategrasso. Giovanni Maria, Gian Galeazzo Visconti’s first heir, was born here and  his date of birth (7 September 1388) was commemorated with the dedication of the Church of “Santa Maria Nascente”, now known as the Basilica of S. Maria Nuova, which is located not far from Piazza Marconi.

Dating back to 1365, the curch is characterized by an imposing pronaos that closes  the porch and covers a large part of the façade. It was built between 1595 and 1601 by the architect Tolomeo Rinaldi in order to protect the fresco of the Zavattari School depicting the “Virgin and Child”.

The strong presence of the Milanese Dukes is also attested by the former “Convent of the Annunciata” that we can find not far from the center. It is a large complex that has been built in 1469 by Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza to fulfill a vow to the Virgin and entrusted to the Order of the Franciscan Minor Friars. The church preserves a magnificent cycle of frescoes with the stories of Mary dated “October 1519” and signed by Nicola Mangone from  Caravaggio, known as il Moietta. The cloister has been entirely recovered in its original appearance and has decorations from different eras.

In the city center we also find the Golgi – Redaelli Institute, once the “Pious House of the Incurable People”, where Camillo Golgi carried out his first experiments on the cells of the nervous system that lead him to the creation of the “Golgi method” which granted him the Nobel prize in 1906

The church of San Pietro, which probably already existed in the period of the Longobardi (ancient German people who lived in North Italy) , was entirely rebuilt in Baroque style by the architect Francesco Croce. On the high altar by Luigi Cagnola, there is a canvas dedicated to the “Madonna della Neve” from 1645, signed by Giambattista Discepoli.

Where the Naviglio Grande curves towards Milan and  where the Naviglio di Bereguardo begins, we find Castelletto, a part of the municipality of Abbiategrasso. Once it was a real harbor, a place animated by boats, merchants and workers. Along the the Naviglio banks we can find Palazzo Cittadini Stampa a magnificent noble building owned by the municipality, which has been recently restored All the rooms are decorated with beautiful frescoes dating back to the seventeenth century.In the church of Sant’Antonio Abate, built between 1610 and 1616, we find the fourteenth-century statue of the “Virgin with Child” and the canvas of the” Assumption” by Camillo Procaccini.