The best running trails around Melzo

Villa Fornaci is a historic hamlet geographically divided between the municipalities of Gessate and Bellinzago Lombardo, in the metropolitan city of Milan. The core rises and develops entirely along the banks of the Naviglio della Martesana (also called Naviglio Piccolo), representing one of the most characteristic and historically rich hydraulic and industrial crossing points in the entire Martesana territory.

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 at Cassano. Irrigation of the land 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 villas occurred in the Baroque era, aimed at enjoying the convenience of water travel and controlling the owned lands.

Leonardo's locks on the Naviglio della Martesana, particularly the Conca dell'Incoronata and the Conca di San Marco in Milan, are 15th-16th century engineering systems designed to overcome water level differences and connect the Martesana to the inner network of canals. Designed by Leonardo da Vinci, these locks used wooden leaf gates, designed to facilitate the passage of barges loaded with goods.

The covered wooden bridge over the Naviglio Martesana in Gorgonzola is a historic and characteristic pedestrian crossing from the 15th century, renovated over time, which connects the two banks of the canal. A local symbol, it unites historic buildings and offers a suggestive view, representing one of the most iconic structures in the town along the canal.

Completed in 1471, the Naviglio Martesana was a huge hydraulic work of its time. Used for the transport of things and people, on both banks there was the road that was used by horses pulling barges along this important waterway that connected the villages with Milan, the big city. Now the use of the canal as a transport route has fallen into disuse after the mass arrival of rubber-wheeled transport and the route has been transformed into a beautiful cycle path, it is on this route that the Martesana cycle path is described, 36 kilometers on its own protected route and almost not at all trafficked by motor vehicles.

A very characteristic, ancient bridge located on the Martesana; a photo is a must! I don't think it's called the "Bridge of Sighs," but it's very characteristic.

A large neoclassical building, basilica-like in shape, with side chapels, dominated by a massive octagonal lantern tower and a large octagonal lantern. The façade, raised above the churchyard, features a large portico that extends beyond both sides of the church. It consists of a large central pronaos with an entablature supported by four large Corinthian columns in Baveno travertine. Short side porticoes with two pier-supported arches connect it to the large niche of the Serbelloni tomb and the arch in front of the entrance to the Oratory of the Holy Trinity. These side sections are surmounted by a tympanum whose base is broken by the entrance arch. These arches are also highlighted by a large niche beneath the large central tympanum above the pronaos. The plastered wall facing is enlivened by the presence of incised horizontal lines, niches to the sides of the arches, cornices, moldings, and stone piers. (source Superintendency)

Church built between 1806 and 1820, designed by architect Simone Cantoni and commissioned by Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni