Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Located in the western area of ​​Milan, it became a park in 1974 thanks to an agreement between the Municipality of Milan and the Italia Nostra Association, which currently deals with the management and maintenance of the area.

The space initially assigned consisted of a semi-abandoned agricultural area, within which the now ruined Cascina San Romano was located. The initial design guidelines of the architects Ratti and Bacigalupo were revised by the architect Crespi who, taking into account the limited availability of means and the fact that the works would be carried out by volunteers, adopted a flexible design methodology that could be modified over time, a practice currently known as urban forestation.

In 1977 the Friends of the Woods Committee was founded, which ensured funding for the project until the early 1981s when the Municipality of Milan began to provide a financial contribution. In XNUMX, the Urban Forestry Centre, CFU, was founded in Cascina San Romano, an operational body that took on the task of coordinating and developing all projects, providing services for users and promoting citizen participation.

At the end of the first agreement in 1984 the Municipality decided to renew the contract with Italia Nostra for another nine years and to expand the park area from thirty-five to fifty hectares. In this period, "leisure gardens" were created which were inspired by similar projects existing in Europe.

With the third agreement, from 1993 to 2002, a further expansion of another thirty hectares of Boscoincittà was obtained and a water garden, protected areas for children's play and new vegetable plots were created. A further area was subsequently assigned to the park which allowed the connection between Boscoincittà and the Cave Park.

With the interventions carried out over time and the thirty thousand plants donated by the State Forestry Company, the park has progressively expanded and today hosts areas rich in trees, shrubs, flowers and spontaneous vegetation. The wooded part clearly prevails compared to the total surface area. In the area surrounding Cascina San Romano, four porticoes host parties and barbecues for groups, associations and individual users.

Main tree species

• field maple (Acer campestre)
• sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus)
• hornbeam (Carpinus spp)
• ash (Fraxinus spp)
• elm (Ulmus spp)
• alder (Alnus spp)
• poplar (Populus spp)
• red oak (Quercus rubra)
• black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
• willow (Salix spp).

There is avifauna and wildlife.

The park is rich in water, thanks to several fountains that run through it and intertwine to form a small lake and a "wet" area with a sequence of basins.

The lake, begun in 1989 and completed in 1992, was designed by the architect Carlo Masera and a group of naturalists and foresters (Silvio Frattini, Danilo Baratelli and Paola Pirelli) with the aim of improving the microclimate and encouraging the development of the flora and of aquatic and terrestrial fauna. It has been enriched with structures for its use, such as a pier suspended over the water and benches from which to admire the landscape.

In the park there is the Cascina San Romano, from the 1942th century, originally a noble residence. Subsequently it carried out agricultural-zootechnical functions until 1960, when it was acquired by the Municipality of Milan. Partly destroyed by a fire during the Second World War, it fell into abandonment between 1970 and 1976. The first maintenance and renovation works began in XNUMX. It is currently home to the Urban Forestry Center and the operational base of Italia Nostra.

Arrival

• December and January: 8am - 30pm
• February: 7am - 00pm
• March: 7am - 00pm
• from April to September: 7:00 - 20:00
• October: 7am - 00pm
• November: 7am - 00pm

Associations present

• Italia Nostra - CFU, Urban Forestry Centre 
• Park Center: Cascina San Romano - via Novara, 340 - tel/fax: 02 45.22.401
  Email: info@cfu.it

Picnic or party area

At the San Romano farmhouse it is possible to book a porch to organize birthday parties, picnics, meetings or barbecues with friends. For more information, see the CFU website the rules of use.

 The calendar of ordinary events includes

• the traditional San'Antonio bonfire on January 17th
• the grape festival, the festival of the elderly

For more information on the activities organized during the year, please refer to CFU website.

Educational activities

Environmental education activities are organized for nursery, elementary and middle schools, summer weeks for children called "Adventures in the Woods" and days of work and volunteering. The aim is to involve children and raise their awareness of the topic through participation understood as game.