A PROVINCE TO BE EXPLORED - Visita Milano

Cogliate
Municipal website: www.comunedicogliate.it
Distance from Monza: 20 km. Distance from Milan: 27 km
Map reference: D 2
S. Damiano, detail of the
frescoes in the apse
Cogliate lies in the west of the province of Monza.
Unlike other towns in the area, no archaeological
artefacts from Roman times or previous times
have b een discovered here. T he first written
document recording its existence dates from 9 96
AD. At the time, “Colliate” was a settlement of Benedictine
nuns named after St. Dalmazio. F arming
was its primary activity and a document dated 1184
states that the tithes were paid in fruits of the earth
such as pulses, wine, linen, turnips, walnuts, c hestnuts
and lupins. In the second half of the 15th century,
the c hurch of the Benedictine convent, by
then in decline, was rebuilt, named after St. John the
Baptist and conferred with the title of parish church.
From 1538 to 1734, Cogliate was the feud of the
Carcassola family. Subsequently, like Ceriano, it was
inherited by the Castellani-Varzi family. The Benedictine
convent was suppressed during the Napoleonic
occupation and the complex was purchased
by a certain Isimbaldi of Ceriano, who turned it into
a farm estate, although a small chapel was retained
on the site. Subsequently, the assets passed to
the Fatebenefratelli charitable institution. In the late
18th century, the mulb erry growing silkworm
Inside the church of S. Damiano
Monza and its province
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