The best traffic-free bike rides around San Donato Milanese

Trails and single tracks on the way there, immersed in nature.

The Cathedral with the Clock Tower occupies the east side of Piazza della Vittoria, and the facades of houses and palaces frame its facade. The square, as a civic and religious center, as we see it today, was formed in different periods. The construction site of the Duomo was organized according to the methods of the time, i.e. by tracing the perimeter directly on the ground and then starting with the construction of the apse area. The so-called "stepped" facade suggests the division of the internal space, in which the central nave is higher and wider than the two side aisles. In the center of the facade, in the upper part, is the aedicule containing a bronze copy of the statue of San Bassiano, the original in copper and gold patina is kept inside the main nave of the cathedral. The central part of the facade is occupied by the rose window which, besides being a typically decorative element, allows for good internal lighting.

Around the rose window and the slopes of the roof, the decoration with interwoven arches and polychrome majolica cups of Byzantine derivation is to be observed. Below the rose window, two Renaissance stone windows have been created. The "candelabra" columns and the side coats of arms refer to the motifs of humanistic culture. The most characteristic element of this facade is the protiron. In the lunette above the portal are depicted the Redeemer, the crowned Madonna, and Saint Bassiano imploring. On the pilasters of the horizontal architrave are depicted Adam and Eve and, below, two other figures that recall the vices of man. The portal is framed by spiral columns, and the decorations surrounding the portal arch consist of naturalistic decorative motifs derived from the Lombard school, with shoots, spirals, and aquatic plant leaves. Finally, the small roof that frames and shelters the portal is supported by stylophoric lions.

The Muzza Canal, also known as Canale della Muzza, originates near the Castle of Cassano d’Adda, where it draws water from the Adda river. After a course of about 39 km, it flows back into the Adda near Castiglione. Considered an important hydraulic engineering work at a European level, the Muzza Canal is among the oldest in Europe, with about 800 years of history, and is the largest in Northern Italy. Crossing the landscapes of the Po Valley, the canal contributes to the irrigation of the surrounding lands of the Lodi area and preserves precious patches of woodland vegetation, which characterize the Lombardy region. An ideal place to explore the beauty of nature and discover the agricultural history of the region!

Crossing point between Paullo and Tribiano, a small, little-visited village, 100% safe road

Any trail that winds through its vicinity is wonderful, a shame about the interruption between Zelo and Galgagnano of the path due to the hunting area, incidentally a beautiful place part of the ADDA sud Park but inexplicably in the hands of one or more private individuals who have made it their "hunting park" by fencing it all in. I happened to get inside by mistake, finding one of the numerous open gates and could no longer get out, finding the others closed, receiving a couple of shots in the air behind my back to make me understand that I was not welcome! A real shame because it interrupts the descent from Zelo towards Lodi along the Adda. Beyond the "hunting park" I believe that the passage along the river (state-owned area!!) SHOULD always be guaranteed without any ifs or buts!

The Adda River is the fourth longest watercourse in Italy with its 313 kilometers and is entirely within the Lombardy region. It represents one of the main left tributaries of the Po River and has a very large hydrographic basin that covers about a third of the regional territory

The Abbey of Chiaravalle Milanese is a Cistercian monastic complex founded in 1135 by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Located within the South Milan Agricultural Park (Parco Agricolo Sud Milano), it represents one of the most important examples of the transition between Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Lombardy. The abbey is famous not only for its historical and artistic value but also for the monks' historical role in the agricultural reclamation of the surrounding territory.