Affori
Encyclopedia
Affori is a ward
of Milan
, Italy
, part of the Zone 9 administrative division of the city, located north of the city centre. It borders with the wards of Bruzzano
, Comasina
, Bovisasca
, Dergano
and Niguarda
. Before being annexed to Milan in 1923, it was an autonomous comune
.
. It has also been observed that "Affori" is also a family name which is found, for example, in some areas of the Ticino
river basin.
Remnants of the medieval borgo in modern Affori include a watchtower (located in Via Osculati and dating back to the 14th century). The historic centre of Affori is found at the corners of the streets Via Taccioli and Via Cialdini.
While Affori was located on a road connecting Milan to Como
, this road was secondary, the main thoroughfares passing respectively west of the borgo (the modern Via Bovisasca, which was mostly used for military purposes) and one to the east (the modern Via Giuditta Pasta, for civilian and commercial traffic). As a consequence, the development of Affori was slower than that of the surrounding settlements that were closer to, or traversed by, these main roads. As a consequence of this secondary role of Affori, the borgo was split in two parts when the Milanese territory was partitioned into pieve
s; the eastern part was assigned to the pieve of Bruzzano
, while the western part was assigned to the pieve of Bollate
.
The economy of the borgo was based on agriculture; its territory housed several cascine
(farms). A major source of income was the cultivation of mulberries and sericulture
.
In 1686, Pier Paolo Corbella became duke
of Affori; he bought a large piece of land in the area and ordered the construction of a luxury villa, now known as Villa Litta. This boosted the economy of Affori, which became largely dependent by the villa itself. Another major thrust to the development of Affori came between the 18th and 19th centuries, when a new road was built to connect Milan to Como; the new road (which corresponds to what are now Via Imbonati, Via Pellegrino Rossi, Via Astesani and Via Comasina) traversed Affori, which thus became one of the most important settlements north of Milan.
During Napoleonic
rule, in 1808, Affori was briefly annexed to Milan, but regained its autonomy in 1816.
In 1869 Affori, Bruzzano
, Bresso
and Dergano
were merged into a comune named Affori e uniti ("Affori and united"). Bresso regained its autonomy in 1884, but Bruzzano and Dergano remained part of the comune, which would eventually be renamed just "Affori" (in 1912).
At the turn of the 19th century, Milan was quickly growing as a consequence of the industrialization process. Its relationship with adjacent comuni became stricter, and Affori became de facto a district of the city. Transportation between Milan and Affori developed quickly since the last decade of the 19th century, with the construction of a railway and the established of a horse-driven tramway in 1882, that was replaced in 1898 by an electrical tramway.
This was formalized in 1923 when Affori was annexed to Milan along with several other comuni.
The next most important monument is the church of Santa Giustina; it houses a painting, credited to Ambrogio de Predis, that has raised the interest of art scholars because of its similarity to Leonardo da Vinci
's Virgin of the Rocks
. The church also has a notable organ
created by the Amati luthiers' family.
Other places of interest in Affori include the Paolo Pini Art Gallery (established in 1995), which has paintings by contemporary artists such as Enrico Baj
, Günter Brus, Martin Disler
, Piero Gilardi, Giuseppe Maraniello, Klaus Karl Mehrkens, Aldo Spoldi, Emilio Tadini, and Bernd Zimmer, and the Affori Library, a large public library which is best known for its corpus of children literature and comics..
subway are situated in central Affori (Affori Centro
) and the area of the railway station (Affori FN
).
of the Milanese area, the "Corpo Musicale Gaetano Donizatti", established in 1853 and still in activity. The band is informally known as "Banda d'Affori" (Band of Affori).
Ward
Ward may refer to:* A Watchman as in Watch and Ward* Ward , someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian* USS Aaron Ward, a series of U.S...
of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, part of the Zone 9 administrative division of the city, located north of the city centre. It borders with the wards of Bruzzano
Bruzzano
Bruzzano is a district of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zona 9 of the city.-Overview:Its name comes from the latin Bruttianum, as the land owner of the agricultural fundus was a roman citizen coming form Bruttium . In this region, in fact, there is now the namesake municipality of...
, Comasina
Comasina
Comasina is a district of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zona 9 of the city....
, Bovisasca
Bovisasca
Bovisasca is a district of Milan, Italy, located within the Zone 9 administrative division of the city. It is located between the Ferrovie Nord railway and the Politecnico university buildings, adjacent to the district of Bovisa; it is in fact named after the "Bovisasca" road leading to Bovisa.-...
, Dergano
Dergano
Dergano is a district of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zona 9 of the city.-See also:*Dergano...
and Niguarda
Niguarda
Niguarda is a district of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zona 9 of the city. It was an independent village till 1923, then became part of the city after the Giunta Mangiagalli ....
. Before being annexed to Milan in 1923, it was an autonomous comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
.
History
The rural settlement of Affori is referenced as early as 915, although in early references the name of the place is variously spelled Affoni, Afoni, Afori or Avoni. This toponymy is of uncertain origin; it might be from a Roman anthroponymy "Afer", or from the Latin ad forum ("by the market", possibly a reference to a local market) or even from ad fontem ("by the spring", in reference to a local spring of water. It has also been suggested that the name might be from ad foris, "outside", which was used to refer to the church of Affori (Sanca Iustina a foris) as the church was "outside" the walls of MilanWalls of Milan
The city Milan, Italy, has had three different systems of defending walls. The oldest, Roman walls were developed in two stages, the first in the Republican and the second in the Imperial era. The second wall system was realized in the Middle Ages , after the destruction of the city by Frederick...
. It has also been observed that "Affori" is also a family name which is found, for example, in some areas of the Ticino
Ticino
Canton Ticino or Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. Named after the Ticino river, it is the only canton in which Italian is the sole official language...
river basin.
Remnants of the medieval borgo in modern Affori include a watchtower (located in Via Osculati and dating back to the 14th century). The historic centre of Affori is found at the corners of the streets Via Taccioli and Via Cialdini.
While Affori was located on a road connecting Milan to Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
, this road was secondary, the main thoroughfares passing respectively west of the borgo (the modern Via Bovisasca, which was mostly used for military purposes) and one to the east (the modern Via Giuditta Pasta, for civilian and commercial traffic). As a consequence, the development of Affori was slower than that of the surrounding settlements that were closer to, or traversed by, these main roads. As a consequence of this secondary role of Affori, the borgo was split in two parts when the Milanese territory was partitioned into pieve
Pieve
In the Middle Ages, a pieve was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended.The Italian word pieve is descended from Latin plebs which, after the expansion of Christianity in Italy, was applied to the community of baptized people...
s; the eastern part was assigned to the pieve of Bruzzano
Bruzzano
Bruzzano is a district of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zona 9 of the city.-Overview:Its name comes from the latin Bruttianum, as the land owner of the agricultural fundus was a roman citizen coming form Bruttium . In this region, in fact, there is now the namesake municipality of...
, while the western part was assigned to the pieve of Bollate
Bollate
Bollate is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 10 km northwest of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 37,556 and an area of 15.9 km²....
.
The economy of the borgo was based on agriculture; its territory housed several cascine
Cascina a corte
The Italian phrase cascina a corte or, equivalently, cascina lombarda or just cascina refers to a type of rural building traditional of the Po Valley, especially of Lombardy and of some areas of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. Cascine are reported in the Po Valley at least since the 16th century, but...
(farms). A major source of income was the cultivation of mulberries and sericulture
Sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...
.
In 1686, Pier Paolo Corbella became duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
of Affori; he bought a large piece of land in the area and ordered the construction of a luxury villa, now known as Villa Litta. This boosted the economy of Affori, which became largely dependent by the villa itself. Another major thrust to the development of Affori came between the 18th and 19th centuries, when a new road was built to connect Milan to Como; the new road (which corresponds to what are now Via Imbonati, Via Pellegrino Rossi, Via Astesani and Via Comasina) traversed Affori, which thus became one of the most important settlements north of Milan.
During Napoleonic
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
rule, in 1808, Affori was briefly annexed to Milan, but regained its autonomy in 1816.
In 1869 Affori, Bruzzano
Bruzzano
Bruzzano is a district of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zona 9 of the city.-Overview:Its name comes from the latin Bruttianum, as the land owner of the agricultural fundus was a roman citizen coming form Bruttium . In this region, in fact, there is now the namesake municipality of...
, Bresso
Bresso
Bresso is a comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 8 km north of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 27,052 and an area of 3.38 km²...
and Dergano
Dergano
Dergano is a district of Milan, Italy. It is an area located within Zona 9 of the city.-See also:*Dergano...
were merged into a comune named Affori e uniti ("Affori and united"). Bresso regained its autonomy in 1884, but Bruzzano and Dergano remained part of the comune, which would eventually be renamed just "Affori" (in 1912).
At the turn of the 19th century, Milan was quickly growing as a consequence of the industrialization process. Its relationship with adjacent comuni became stricter, and Affori became de facto a district of the city. Transportation between Milan and Affori developed quickly since the last decade of the 19th century, with the construction of a railway and the established of a horse-driven tramway in 1882, that was replaced in 1898 by an electrical tramway.
This was formalized in 1923 when Affori was annexed to Milan along with several other comuni.
Places of interest
The main historical building of Affori is Villa Litta, a 17th century luxury villa located within the oldest city park of the Milanese area. The villa was owned by several families of the Milanese aristocracy, namely the Corbella, the D'Adda and the Litta.The next most important monument is the church of Santa Giustina; it houses a painting, credited to Ambrogio de Predis, that has raised the interest of art scholars because of its similarity to Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
's Virgin of the Rocks
Virgin of the Rocks
The Virgin of the Rocks is the name used for both of two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, of the same subject, and of a composition which is identical except for two significant details...
. The church also has a notable organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
created by the Amati luthiers' family.
Other places of interest in Affori include the Paolo Pini Art Gallery (established in 1995), which has paintings by contemporary artists such as Enrico Baj
Enrico Baj
Enrico Baj was an Italian artist and writer on art. Many of his works show an obsession with nuclear war. He created prints, sculptures but especially collage. He was close to the surrealist and dada movements, and was later associatied with CoBrA. As an author he has been described as a leading...
, Günter Brus, Martin Disler
Martin Disler
Martin Disler was a Swiss painter, drawer and writer. He is associated with the Neue Wilde painting style....
, Piero Gilardi, Giuseppe Maraniello, Klaus Karl Mehrkens, Aldo Spoldi, Emilio Tadini, and Bernd Zimmer, and the Affori Library, a large public library which is best known for its corpus of children literature and comics..
Transportation
Affori is well connected to the centre of Milan by bus lines, tramways and railway; two stops of the Milan MetroMilan Metro
The Milan Metro is the rapid transit system serving Milan, Italy, operated by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi. Milan metro is the longest metro system in Italy, and is the core of the Milan Transportation System...
subway are situated in central Affori (Affori Centro
Affori Centro (Milan Metro)
Affori Centro is a station Line 3 of Milan Metro, whose inauguration took place on March 26, 2011, twenty-one years after the opening of the original trunk of the line...
) and the area of the railway station (Affori FN
Affori FN (Milan Metro)
Affori FN is a station Line 3 of Milan Metro, whose inauguration took place on March 26, 2011, twenty-one years after the opening of the original trunk of the line...
).
The Affori concert band
Affori hosts the prominent historic concert bandConcert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
of the Milanese area, the "Corpo Musicale Gaetano Donizatti", established in 1853 and still in activity. The band is informally known as "Banda d'Affori" (Band of Affori).