Magenta, Italy

Infobox CityIT
img_coa =Magenta (MI)-Stemma.png official_name = Comune di Magenta
name = Magenta
region = Lombardy
province = Milan (MI)
elevation_m = 138
area_total_km2 = 21
population_as_of = 2005-12-31
population_total = 23354
population_density_km2 = 1047.2
timezone = CDT, UTC+1
coordinates = coord|45|28|N|08|53|E
mapx=45.28
mapy=8.53
frazioni = Ponte Vecchio, Ponte Nuovo
telephone = 02
postalcode = 20013
gentilic = Magentini
saint = St. Martin of Tours, St. Roch, St. Blaise
day = november 11
mayor = Luca Del Gobbo
website = [http://www.comunedimagenta.it www.comunedimagenta.it]

Magenta is a town and "comune" in the province of Milan in Lombardy, northern Italy.

It is notable as the site of the Battle of Magenta. The colour magenta is named after the battle, most likely referring to the uniforms used by Zouave French troops. Magenta is the birthplace of St. Gianna Beretta Molla.

History

Magenta was probably a settlement of the Insubres, a Gaul tribe, who founded it around the 5th century BC. The area was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC. The name is traditionally connected to "castrum Maxentiae", meaning "castle of Maxentius". After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by the Lombards.

In the Middle Ages, it was destroyed two times, in 1162 by Frederick Barbarossa and in 1356 by the troops opposing the Visconti rule of Milan. In 1310, according to a legend, the emperor Henry VII was stopped here by a snowstorm during his march to Milan. In 1398 Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated the town territories to the monks of the Certosa di Pavia.

On June 4 1859, it was the seat of an important battle of the Second War of Italian Independence. The Franco-Piedmontese victory in the fight gave them the chance to conquer Austrian Lombardy.

Main sights

*Church of San Martino, built to commemorate the dead of the 1859 battle.
*Monastery of "Santa Maria Assunta", probably dating from the 14th century. The church, of Romanesque origin but with Baroque interiors, houses two works by il Bergognone (1501, once attributed to Bernardino Luini's workshop).
*Church of "San Rocco" (early 16th century).
*"Casa Crivelli Boisio Beretta", an example of 15th century noble house.
*"Casa Giacobbe"
*Monument to general Patrice de MacMahon.
*"La Fagiana" natural park, a former hunting resort of King Victor Emmanuel II.

Gallery