Porta Volta

Porta Volta
—  Quartier of Milan  —
Country  Italy
Region Lombardy
Province Milan
Comune Milan
Zone 8
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Porta Volta is a former city gate of Milan, Italy, part of the Spanish walls (16th century). Nowadays, the name "Porta Volta" is most commonly used to refer to the surrounding district ("quartiere"), part of the Zone 8 administrative division of the city.

Porta Volta was built in 1860 to connect the city to the Monumentale cemetery. In the following decades it acquired a more important role as a consequence of the realization of the railway, that interrupted the road to Como; the new road to Como that was built to replace the old one (informally known as "Comasina", formally "Via Carlo Farini"), in fact, was attached to Porta Volta.

While the walls and the gates have been demolished, the toll gates (dating back to 1880) have remained.[1]

An important renewal plan for the Porta Volta district has been submitted in 2010 by Swiss architect Jacques Herzog. As a part of the plan, Porta Volta will become a cultural centre, with a large library, the new headquarters of the Feltrinelli publishing house, and vast green areas.[2]

Note

  1. ^ Caselli di Porta Volta (in Italian)
  2. ^ Porta Volta, nasce il polo della cultura (in Italian)