Besate the memory lays along the river

A village situated on top of a gentle slope that gently slopes down to meet the river Ticino, a skilled sculptor who has been shaping its territory for millennia with natural skill.

A village surrounded by water that surrounds , protects and drowns the bad thoughts . We're not talking about the last track of an old castle surrounded by a moat of protection. We're talking about Besate, of Naviglio on one side, and the river that flows downstream: the river Ticino. Once blue, green still on the banks leading to forests and white since always on the skin of the stones that mark the course, Ticino is a certainty for this country, despite the detour that its course had to suffer for the needs of ' humans. A resource for the village today , but even more critical in the past. A centrality that is manifested in the elegant villas that are found in the country and in neighboring territories : Motta Visconti, Beresford  The Zelata, etc. .

It turns out a trace of this prosperous past in the portal above the Visconti di Modrone Villa. Just Marcello Duke Visconti di Modrone was the last private citizen to own a portion of the Forest of Zerbo, a green corner of an area that has all but disappeared. The noble was probably the last great admirer of this forest estate. The Duke , with great foresight ,employed some gamekeepers and foresters who took care of the maintenance of the estate. It almost goes without saying that in order to make the woods alive, to make it grow healthy and lush , a continuous and systematic cleaning which will enable new generations of trees to grow healthy and freed from the oppression of other plants old and destined to die, is needed.  Perhaps the noble patron was really the last of this nature that surrounds the blue river in the territory of Besate. He was the one who protect it before the advent of the Ticino Park , guilty of having contributed to the decline of the forest.

Fortunately, thanks to the work of the Friends of Ticino Besate, since 2002 the Zerbo area came back to life. In addition to the forest, in fact, a wonderful villa and a church dating back to 1600 completed the area. The villa, owned by the Ciccarelli family, those of the Pasta del Capitano for instance , has been converted into a private residence. However, the sensitivity of the owners makes the house visited during some special occasions . The second Sunday of May, for example, the citizens of Besate pay homage to Our Lady of Zerbo with a party that opens the gates of the villa and the church to visitors.