Bicocca (district of Milan)

Bicocca
Quartiere of Milan
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Milan
Comune	Milan
Zone	9
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Bicocca is a district ("quartiere") of Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 9 administrative division. It was incorporated in the city in 1841. The main historic landmark of the district is the 15th century Villa Arcimboldi. In the last decades of the 20th century, the district has been subject to a major requalification project that led to the construction of important facilities such as the University of Milan Bicocca seats and the Teatro degli Arcimboldi theatre.

The toponymy "Bicocca" is probably a reference to a villa that was built in 1450 and that was owned by the aristocratic family of the Arcimboldi, as the word "Bicocca" is an archaic term meaning "small castle located in an elevated place". The villa is still in place, and it is one of the landmarks of the Bicocca district.

In 1522, the place was the setting of a famous battle between the Spanish of Charles V and the French of Francis I.

In the 19th century, the area of Bicocca was affected by a quick industrialization process, and was gradually absorbed into the urban agglomerate of Milan. It remained an autonomous comune until 1841, when it was annexed to Niguarda, which in turn became part of Milan in 1923.

In the first half of the 20th century Bicocca became the centre of an important industrial area that also comprised Greco and Sesto San Giovanni, and that greatly contributed to the Italian economy of the time. The first facilities to be established in Bicocca were those of Pirelli, Ansaldobreda, and Wagons-Lits. In the nearby area of Sesto, the Falck steel mill was also a prominent factory. Pirelli maintained a leading role in the area. A historic neighbourhood of Bicocca, "Borgo Pirelli" ("Pirelli Town"), was originally developed as a residential area for the thousands of workers that were employed in the Pirelli factories.

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Wikipedia