Navigli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The navigli was a system of navigable and interconnected canals centred around Milan, in Lombardy, Northern Italy.

Five canals made up the system:

• Naviglio Grande
• Naviglio Pavese
• Naviglio Martesana
• Naviglio di Paderno
• Naviglio di Bereguardo

The first three were connected through Milan via the Fossa Interna, also known as the Inner Ring. The urban section of the Naviglio Martesana was covered over at the beginning of the 1930s, together with the entire Inner Ring, thus spelling the death knell for the north-eastern canals. Commercial carrying continued on the Naviglio Grande, but the decline was steady and by the sixties it was over for good.

Today they are mostly derelict, unnavigable, or used for irrigation. However, plans are afoot to restore the Naviglio Grande and the Naviglio Pavese to through navigation.