Villa Finzi Park - Municipality of Milan

Park of Villa Finzi

Town Hall 2
Arrival: via Sant'Erlembardo
Opening hours: 7am - 00pm
How to get: M1 Gorla | Bus 44

Area: 51.00 sqm
Year of realization: 1829
Carrying out restorations: Municipality of Milan, 80s

What to do at the park

2 play areas, one of which is sustainable and inclusive, one in the public garden, the other in the school area
walk
stop and relax; There is a bar in the day center for the elderly
running and cycling

The park in brief

The garden of Villa Finzi is a place that allows you to walk among centuries-old trees and allows children to run and play in the area dedicated to them. Among the plant species present, mention should be made of the red and Caucasian fir, the tulip tree, the coffee tree and the Judas tree with hermaphroditic pink and fuchsia pink flowers.

The park of Villa Finzi, which became municipal property in 1934, is located in the eastern area of the city and was built in the XNUMXth century as the country residence of Count Batthyany, a Hungarian Hussars officer. Subsequently the Villa was purchased by the Finzi Ottolenghi counts, who over time made it a charity park for the children of Gorla.

In the park there is the mysterious Temple of the Night, an underground structure created inside an ice house with marble columns with Corinthian capitals, and the neoclassical Temple of Innocence, decorated in spring with the purple cascade of wisteria flowers and which probably it stood on a small artificial island in the center of a lake formed by the waters of a fountain.

In compliance with the vocation given to it by the Finzi Ottoleghi counts, the park is home to multipurpose civic centres. There are: a nursery, a nursery school, a primary school, a social center for the elderly and a day center for disabled people.

The park is periodically monitored by the GEV, the Volunteer Ecological Guards.

History and Architecture

The park was built in a charming countryside location overlooking Via Sant'Erlembardo in 1829 by the Hungarian count Batthyàny, an officer of the Hussars, as a splendid setting for the villa.

The park wound between the pond, the café, the greenhouses and the two neoclassical temples. The social characterization of the place dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, when the new owner Fanny Finzi Ottolenghi transformed the large garden from a place of pleasure for the aristocracy into a place of welfare activities, building a "Garden House for the Children of Gorla" and a shelter for disabled children.

After some changes of ownership it fell into abandonment until 1934 when the municipal administration transformed it into a public park. Currently the inhabitants of the area give it great value and the villa is home to a social center for the elderly.

Architectural heritage and artefacts

Two temples are suggestive: a small neoclassical temple, called "of the Night", inside the cave under the hill and the small circular temple, called "of Innocence", covered by a wisteria.