Milan’s hill
What do a Saint, one of the greatest Italian poet and a three-time Olympic champion of the Sword have in common?
An undoubtedly peculiar place, few kilometers from Milan. It is San Colombano al Lambro: despite the fact that it is near to Lodi and Pavia districts it is a town of the Metropolitan City of Milan (in fact in the 90s the citizens voted to stay under Milan’s district). It is a place with a millennial history which owes its name to Saint Colombano, an Irish monk. He spent some time here before establishing Bobbio’s monastery. There he spent his life and afterwards was established a castle – this was Visconti family’s property. Is this family from Milan which hosted the poet Francesco Petrarca in San Colombano. In a letter to the Genua bishop he described the small village: “ Welcome loneliness, friend silence…. I know no other place, which in posture is not very high, you can see around it a vast prospect of noble lands”.
But what about the Olympic champion of the Sword? He is Franco Riccardi who won the Olympic games in 1928, 1932 and 1936. He established a business called Nettare dei Santi which produces San Colombano wine. To commemorate the centenary of his birth, the young oenologists – who today guide the vinification processes – have dedicated an extremely interesting wine to him, made for 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet.
History, art, architecture, wine and food: you can find it all in a one-day excursion, better if you have the chance to grab one of the many feasts organised in San Colombano. It is a magical pace, a hill which is a stone’s throw from Milan, vineyards, a castle and a small village worth to discover. Herewww.turismosancolombano.it you can find hints, histories, itineraries and legends.
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