The best MTB trails around Liscate

The Adda River is the fourth longest watercourse in Italy with its 313 kilometers and is entirely contained 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 Muzza Canal is the oldest in Europe and just this year, its 800th anniversary was celebrated by the Municipality of Paullo in collaboration with the Pro Loco and other Municipalities. Its origin dates back to the year 1220, when Frederick II of Swabia, crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, issued an imperial edict that granted the people of Lodi the right to use the waters flowing within their territory. The current route, about 60 km long, receives the waters of the Adda River at Cassano d’Adda, at an altitude of 120 m above sea level, crosses the Lodi territory for about 40 km until near Castiglione d’Adda, at an altitude of 45 m above sea level, and here it releases them back into the Adda River. It has a regulated water regime, with a flow rate, depending on the season, of about 200 thousand liters of water per second; an initial width of 50 meters which reduces to a few meters at the end of its course and an average depth of 2 meters.

The small church of San Biagio, unique in its location, in a rural hamlet almost lost in the countryside of the upper Lodi area. The entire complex can be considered, in short, a general rehearsal for Bramante. The structures, absolutely innovative for the time, highlight the engineering knowledge typical of the architect. The oratory dedicated to San Biagio (Bishop of Sebaste and martyr) has a lower parallelepiped part with three apses and an octagonal upper part, with a row of round windows and another of blind rectangular windows. It is completed by a low tower that serves as a bell tower; the entire complex is made of terracotta and retains a classical Renaissance appearance of elegance and proportions.

Placid waters, large basins, humidity galore

The road owes its name to Duke Gabrio Servelloni, who purchased it from the Counts of Adda in 1760 to facilitate travel within his estates. This interpodal road, which follows the route of an ancient Roman centuriation, became a very important refuge during World War II. Surrounded by centuries-old trees and thick hedges, it was invisible to enemy aircraft, which dropped illuminating bombs at night to identify movements and potential targets. It is a mostly unpaved road that can only be traveled on foot or by bicycle and connects the municipalities of Rodano, Settala, and Pantigliate. Along the route, several active farms are still located in the Cascine di Cassinetta, Paradiso, Crocina, and Castello farms. This last farmhouse houses a museum of rural civilization. People came from the farms and neighboring villages such as Limito, Pobbiano, Trenzanesio, and Pioltello, which, being close to the Milan-Brescia railway line, were under constant bombardment from bombs dropped on the Segrate marshland and along the entire length of the railway. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the water system that had led to the reclamation of the Lombard plain was largely abandoned, returning this area to a marshy state. But already around the year 1000, the Cistercian monks, and later the Benedictine and Humiliati monks, restored and expanded the works built by the Romans, creating the current irrigation system that includes the Navigli and the Muzza canals—built between 1100 and 1400—and which was practically completed at the end of the 19th century with the opening of the Villoresi canal. The artefacts present in the area and visible along the “Strada del Duca” route can be dated from the 17th to the 19th century, the period in which the last brick and granite masonry works date back.

Quiet, well-trodden road stays cool even on hot mornings

Attention for the less experienced, steep path

The trail is always well marked, compared to a month ago they even cut the era