Franco Verga Park

Town Hall 8 
Arrival: via Eritrea and Castellammare
Opening hours: 6am - 30pm
How to Get There:: tram 12 | 19 | bus 40 | 57

Area: 220.000 sqm
Year of realization 2005-2013
Designers: Diana Armstrong Bell Landscape Design, Municipality of Milan, EuroMilano spa

What to do at the park

  • play areas: three-storey castle, a Tibetan bridge and rope pyramid for climbing
  • walk
  • stop and relax
  • running and cycling
  • sports fields: basketball and five-a-side football
  • 4 squares, three of which at the main entrances and one central
  • dog area
  • area intended for vegetable gardens

The park in brief

Water is one of the most important elements of this large park, designed by the English landscape designer Diana Armstrong Bell. After the reclamation of the area, previously occupied by the Fina refinery, the park is designed to reproduce the Lombard countryside, with its system of canals and rows of poplar trees. The water, through a system of slopes, arrives in squares cooled by fountains, in play areas with upward jets and in canals next to walking paths.

The English architect Diana Armstrong Bell outlined the guidelines for the project to redevelop the over 450.000 m1990 occupied by the Fina refinery until XNUMX. The intervention aimed to create continuity between the urban green area and the landscape of the Po Valley. The design of the park is inspired by the straight lines of the raised rural paths of the rice fields - headlands - and the water canals, while the geometries reflect the typical shapes of poplar groves.

Water establishes itself as one of the most important and characterizing elements of the park, thanks to the numerous canals and fountains. The four squares included in the project are starting points for walks, meeting places with outdoor bars, games and entertainment.

Three squares have been positioned at the main entrances, while the main square is enclosed in a green theater. The park can also count on two play areas, two sports fields, several small flower gardens enclosed by hedges and a vegetable area.

Main tree species

  • Norway maple (Acer platanoides)
  • hornbeams (Carpinus betulus and betulus'Pyramidalis')
  • English oak (Quercus robur)
  • common ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
  • Neapolitan alder (Alnus cordata)
  • poplars (Populus canescens and P. tremula)
  • Cypress poplar (Populus nigra 'Italica')
  • sophora (Sophora japonica)
  • lime trees (Tilia euchlora and T. cordata)

Worth mentioning is a young forest of white poplars and rows of lime trees.

Gallery

Artificial canals and particular embankment of the central avenue
Aerial view - Play area
Aerial view
Aerial view

Updated: 25/10/2022