Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli

Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli, also called Indro Montanelli Public Gardens, are a big and old park in Milan, Italy. They used to be known as Giardini Pubblici and Giardini di Porta Venezia but were renamed after the writer Indro Montanelli in 2002. These gardens are in the Porta Venezia area, northeast of the city center, and are part of Zone 1.

The gardens were created a long time ago, in 1784, making them the oldest park in Milan. Over the years, they grew bigger and now cover about 172,000 square metres, which is like 43 acres. Inside the gardens, there are some important buildings, like the Natural History Museum, built between 1888 and 1893, and the Planetarium, built in 1930. Long ago, from 1882 to around 1906, a special art school called the Scuola Superiore d'Arte Applicata all'Industria was in one of the buildings there, and later it became the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano.

History

In the late 1700s, the land where the Public Gardens now stand belonged to the Dugnani family and was mostly farmland with canals that later closed. Two old monasteries, San Dionigi and Carcanine, were also there but stopped operating under Austrian rule.

In 1780, Ferdinand, Duke of Breisgau, who governed Milan, asked architect Giuseppe Piermarini to create a city park. Work finished between 1782 and 1786, using prisoners to help build it. Piermarini’s design was inspired by French gardens, with neat flower beds and tree-lined paths to create beautiful views. One corner was set aside for playing soccer.

Later, between 1856 and 1862, Giuseppe Balzaretto expanded the west side of the Gardens, adding hills, lakes, and trees in the style of English parks. During the 1800s, the Natural History Museum was built, along with animal exhibits like aviaries and displays featuring deer, monkeys, and even a giraffe. These exhibits eventually became Milan Zoo, which closed in 1992. Some of the zoo’s popular animals are now displayed in the museum, and a few old zoo buildings, like the one that held big cats, are still standing.

Monuments

The park has many interesting monuments and buildings. One famous building is the Ulrico Hoepli Planetarium, designed by architect Pietro Portalupi in 1929. There is also a Natural History Museum built in 1892 by Giovanni Cerutti, a 17th Century Palazzo Dugnani, and the eclectic Padiglione del Caffé by architect Giuseppe De Finetti.

A statue of Indro Montanelli was placed in the park in 2002. The park was renamed after him that same year. Montanelli was a well-known journalist and writer who often visited the park before going to work at his newspaper, Il Giornale. His statue stands near where he was hurt by a group many years ago.