The Lombard plain rich in springs, water-meadows and sources, was initiated to agricultural development thanks to the precious contribution of monastic orders, who settled in the area and still characterize the local history and economy.
Scattered through Lombardy, the abbeys, centre of monastic life, attract tourists and visitors, interested to know closely the work of the monks.
The Abbey of Morimondo, reached also by bicycle with a nice path from Besate, has been for centuries a place of pilgrimage and religious tourism. The monastery was originally founded in 1134 a few miles away from the present location, in the locality of Coronate. Moved two years later, the abbey was given at first to the Cistercians and then to other monastic orders. At present preserves this sacred place the Congregation of the Servants of Mary's Immaculate Heart. The building, which consists of the church and the monastery rooms, which find their point of connection in the cloister, appears to visitors as an elegant medieval building , made of red brick clay. Everyone is advised to book a guided tour to learn about all the details of the place.
In Morimondo no one will be bored: in addition to guided tours, you can take part in several religious services, concerts or exhibitions held in the buildings of the Abbey. Often on weekends, in the square of the monastery, are also organized markets selling local products and local handicrafts.
Continue your day visiting Vigano Chartreux, located in Vigano, hamlet of the municipality of Gaggiano, about 10 kilometers from Morimondo. By will of Galeazzo Visconti, the Carthusian monks settled in Vigano from the end of 1300 to 1769, and built there an abbey. The building still preserves the old façade and inside you can admire the works by the Pavia painter Bernardino De Rossi.