Milan: The Naviglio Grande

This is the Naviglio Grande that connects the Ticino river to Milan, and as a result, even Lake Maggiore. There are barges here, just like in Holland, and small bars and cafés in the corners. The tram runs past here, and it looks like a northern city!

Leonardo da Vinci reorganised the Naviglio system in the 16th century, which meant there was a waterway that would carry the traffic, that nowadays, of course, all goes by road. The Naviglio was made for sailing on, and tourists here have the opportunity to experience the thrill of sailing in Milan!

 

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Video full text: The Naviglio Grande

This is the dock, it’s only just recently been sorted out.
There are barges here, just like in Holland, and small bars and cafés in the corners.
The tram runs past here, and it looks like a northern city.
The use of the rivers is something that is ancient and yet modern.
Perhaps this is the future!
Reactivating the Naviglio and the dock means reviving one of Milan’s key features.
This is the Naviglio Grande that connects the Ticino river to Milan,
and as a result, even Lake Maggiore.
It was dug by the Cistercian monks in the 13th century.
The barges would arrive here from Lake Maggiore carrying marble.
They bore letters A.U.F., which stood for Ad usum fabricae, i.e. for the Factory of the Duomo.
Because they were exempt of duty, nothing had to be paid!
And that’s also why people say to eat “ad AUF” (Milanese for ‘to eat for nothing’), right?
And all these flowers? Really lovely!
This is my workshop and I keep it hidden away,
so that people think I sell flowers, whereas I actually make bags.
An artisan bag maker, I’m going to have a look!
This is a wonderful corner, a special place on the Naviglio,
it’s the towpath’s narrowest point and only I can see it!
Davide Gatto is a resourceful young artisan
who spent many years abroad, gaining an understanding of how fashion changes
and how customers change the manner in which they shop.
The beautiful customers like to go hunting,
just like when you don’t want to go and dine in restaurants that everybody else eats in,
but you want to look for just that perfect small place to dine.
I’ve decided to create something that is a little old school, a home-workshop.
I live here, next door, and so I’ve opened a small studio here.
I make ten bags a month, that’s around 120 in a year.
They’re rare and very beautiful!
All I wanted to do was to exhibit a truly Italian-made product, above all during Expo.
These are my own peculiarly unique models, and I also customise other, already made bags, to order.
It’s the sort of service that no longer exists in the centre of Milan,
so it felt right to set up shop against the backdrop of the Naviglio.
I didn’t want an aseptic place in which to just display only the bags,
so I mixed the bags with what for me is the Naviglio.
Milan is always a part of Italy, it has its toes dipped in the Mediterranean,
and its head a bit further north, where the air is that of Central Europe,
even if there is more of an Italian liveliness.
This space endeavours, through my aesthetic taste, to tell my vision of the city.
I mix the old with the new, with the know-how of Italian tradition.
Precisely what I was looking for.
I found it naturally by chance, but the place was just right.
Real tourists have to be able to get lost!
In the end fashion looks more to the street,
it’s not down to me to decide that this year pink is in and that everyone will go with pink.
There is no longer a trend, and the word itself is now almost a rude word in the world of fashion.
Naturally everything is vintage,
with old tables and old iron benches.
This is the restoration of something that was once beautiful and can be again.
Further along the Naviglio we find a small detour in the canal,
where, until the 1950s, the laundry workers came to wash clothes.
Entering the Vicolo dei Lavandai (the alleyway of the laundry workers) it’s as though we’ve travelled back to the 19th century.
Up until the 19th century these service were provided by men who formed part of a confraternity.
It was an organisation. The items to be washed would arrive here and everything was organised in relation to the canal that brought the water.
This is the area of the courtyards, where the countryside once was.
The area around the Naviglio was a hive of activity.
Leonardo da Vinci reorganised the Naviglio system in the 16th century.
which meant there was a waterway that would carry the traffic,
that nowadays, of course, all goes by road.
Wouldn’t it be good if the Navigli were to be revived, but then again, all the waterways in general.
All of Europe used to use the waterways to get around,
and all cities were built using this logic.
Cities didn’t have rivers, they had canals.
The Naviglio was made for sailing on. Do you?
We operate a tourist service, with a trip that lasts 50 minutes.
We offer tourists the opportunity to experience the thrill of sailing in Milan!
Please!
Come aboard.
The Naviglio measures 49.9 km in total, that’s virtually 50 km.
We sail six kilometres, three on the outward leg and three on the return.
If we carried straight on up the canal, we’d reach the power station in Turbigo.
The aim is always that of reaching Lake Maggiore via the Ticino.
Everything used to use the canals, there were no trucks and freight arrived here by water.
The barges used the currents for propulsion.
It may not seem like it, but we have a current of 7 to 8 kilometres per hour here.
And at certain times it’s even faster.
To come back upstream required the use of horses to pull the barges.
There were times during the day when it was possible to travel upstream and others when it was possible to travel downstream.
Every so many kilometres there were staging posts where the horses were changed.
The tired horses were replaced with fresh ones, a bit like a stagecoach would do.
Do you think that this is what brought Milan its wealth?
That’s what history tells us! I wasn’t around then because it was the 13th century.
We’re now travelling against the current.
The Naviglio Grande comes into Milan, whilst the Naviglio Pavese leaves it.
If anyone outside of Milan wants to know which Naviglio they are looking at, all they need to do is keep an eye on the current.
This is the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie al Naviglio,
We continue sailing against the current
and come across some single-storey residences along the side of the canal, just as they were in bygone times.
That was the house of the poet, Alda Merini.
There are times when the Navigli are drained in order to clean and maintain them.
But not during the tourist season.
There are also rowers, in this case it’s a female rower.
Thank you for slowing down. Bye!
But on the way back we find her in the water.
Make fast behind there! She is safe!
Here’s the dock, seen from below.
This is where they arrived and the place where all the barges offloaded their merchandise.
It’s all been restored now,
and has become more of a location for tourism and leisure.
The Milanese bring their children here for walks.
That’s good, because although it’s not green, it is somewhere natural.
The mouth of the Naviglio Pavese is also here.
The covered herb market has been rebuilt as part of the dock’s restoration.
It’s a lot nicer now!
Alberto is a classic Milanese who is proud of his city!
Really lovely, definitely worth a visit!