Magenta, Lombardy

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Magenta
Comune
Città di Magenta
Saint Martin Church

Coat of arms
Magenta
Location of Magenta in Italy
Coordinates: 45°28′N 08°53′E / 45.467°N 8.883°E / 45.467; 8.883Coordinates: 45°28′N 08°53′E / 45.467°N 8.883°E / 45.467; 8.883
Country Italy
Region Lombardy
Province Milan (MI)
Frazioni Ponte Vecchio, Ponte Nuovo
Government
 • Mayor Marco Invernizzi (PD)
Area
 • Total 21 km2 (8 sq mi)
Elevation 138 m (453 ft)
Population (31 December 2005)
 • Total 23,354
 • Density 1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Demonym Magentini
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 20013
Dialing code 02
Patron saint St. Martin of Tours, St. Roch, St. Blaise
Saint day November 11
Website Official website

Magenta is a town and comune in the province of Milan in Lombardy, northern Italy. It is notable as the site of the Battle of Magenta. The colour magenta is named after the battle,[1] most likely referring to the uniforms used by Zouave French troops. Magenta is the birthplace of St. Gianna Beretta Molla. Magenta has many different bars and shops which offer goods from jewelleries to groceries, especially on its main street called "Via Roma".

History

Magenta was probably a settlement of the Insubres, a Celtic tribe, who founded it around the 5th century BC. The area was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC. The name is traditionally connected to castrum Maxentiae, meaning "castle of Maxentius". After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by the Lombards.

In the Middle Ages, it was destroyed two times, in 1162 by Frederick Barbarossa and in 1356 by the troops opposing the Visconti rule of Milan. In 1310, according to a legend, the emperor Henry VII was stopped here by a snowstorm during his march to Milan. In 1398 Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated the town territories to the monks of the Certosa di Pavia.

On June 4, 1859, it was the seat of an important battle of the Second War of Italian Independence. The Franco-Piedmontese victory in the fight gave them the chance to conquer Austrian Lombardy.

Magenta received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on May 25, 1947.

Main sights

  • Church of San Martino, built to commemorate the dead of the 1859 battle.
  • Monastery of Santa Maria Assunta, probably dating from the 14th century. The church, of Romanesque origin but with Baroque interiors, houses two works by il Bergognone (1501, once attributed to Bernardino Luini's workshop).
  • Church of San Rocco (early 16th century).
  • Casa Crivelli Boisio Beretta, an example of 15th-century noble house.
  • Casa Giacobbe
  • Monument to general Patrice de MacMahon.
  • La Fagiana natural park, a former hunting resort of King Victor Emmanuel II.


Gallery

  • Main square.

  • Off of main square.

  • Magenta former Library.

  • Monument to Patrice de MacMahon.

Notes

  1. ↑ Cunnington, C. Willett, English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century, Dover Publications, Inc. New York 1990, page 208
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