The best walks and hikes around Cologno Monzese

The Lambro River is the central natural element of Parco Lambro, one of Milan's historic and most extensive parks, located in the northeastern part of the city. The river flows through the entire park from north to south, creating a green corridor that separates the Cimiano, Crescenzago, and Lambrate neighborhoods.

The Naviglio Martesana cycle path (also called Naviglio Piccolo) is a cycle-pedestrian route of about 36 kilometers that connects the center of Milan with the Adda river, reaching up to Trezzo sull'Adda or Cassano d'Adda. Completely flat and asphalted, it is an ideal itinerary for families, urban cyclists, and cycle tourists of all levels.

The course of the Naviglio Martesana in Cernusco is also a Park. It extends across the entire width of the territory of Cernusco sul Naviglio, from the border with Cassina de'Pecchi to that with Vimodrone.

The Increa Park covers an area of approximately 330,000 sq m (33 hectares) in the southeastern part of the municipality of Brugherio and borders the municipality of Cernusco to the southeast and a stretch of the eastern ring road to the northwest. Where the park is today, there was once an agricultural area, which from the 1960s was the site of sand and gravel extraction activities; then, in 1985, thanks to the variant to the PRG and the agreement between the municipality of Brugherio and some private quarry owners, environmental recovery interventions began, aimed at the creation of a public equipped park including green areas and a small lake. In 1987 the area was acquired by the municipal heritage and in the following twenty years the works were carried out which have led today to having the largest green lung in Brugherio and the surrounding area.

Easy cycle path suitable for everyone!

The Naviglio della Martesana, definitively completed in 1496 under the leadership of Ludovico il Moro, flows from Trezzo sull’Adda to Milan for a total length of 38 km. The route runs alongside the ancient Roman road (the current SS 11 padana superiore) which crossed the Adda with two branches: at Vaprio and Cassano. The irrigation of the lands located above the spring belt was for a long time the predominant use of the canal, so much so that initially navigation was limited to two days a week; concurrently with the improvement of the agricultural structure thanks to irrigation, a notable flourishing of stately homes occurred in the Baroque era, aimed at enjoying the convenience of travel on water and controlling the owned lands.

The Naviglio della Martesana is perhaps the least known among the ancient artificial canals that connect Milan to the great Lombard rivers. It originates from the Adda river in Concesa, a hamlet of Trezzo d’Adda, crosses the sub-region of Martesana, northeast of the provincial capital, and once in the city, it goes underground beneath via Melchiorre Gioia, near Cassina de’ Pomm. It measures approximately 38 km in length, with a width varying from 9 to 18 meters. However, in the past, the Naviglio della Martesana continued in the open air all the way to the center, where a system of locks centered on the Conca dell’Incoronata connected it to the short Naviglio di S. Marco and the urban network of the Navigli. The lock was inaugurated in 1496, utilizing lock gates designed by Leonardo da Vinci. The canal had been opened in 1471, under Francesco Sforza. By connecting it to the other Navigli, Leonardo laid the foundations for realizing a dream of the Sforza family: to travel by water from the Ticino river, and therefore from Lake Maggiore, to the Adda river.

The Lambro River is a watercourse that originates in the Triangolo Lariano, and more precisely in the Prealps enclosed between the two branches of Lake Como, in the municipality of Magreglio, and after a journey of about 130 km, which also crosses the city of Milan, flows into the Po River at Senna Lodigiana.