Navigli
he Navigli area comprises what is left of Milan’s canal system (‘navigli’ means ‘canals’) – now just two long canals and a dock, located south of the city centre. Milan’s entrepreneurs have capitalized on its canalside prettiness, making Navigli the stomping-ground of the city’s youth.
Fifteen years ago, the neighbourhood was characterized by bohemia: artists, musicians, poets, etc.; now it’s much less underground, but Navigli remains atmospheric, with a thriving nightlife and street scene. If subcultures (punks, Goths, graffiti kids, and the like) are to be seen anywhere in Milan, the chances are highest here. Navigli is spared the gloss of the Centro, making for an authentic window into old Milan. Old washhouses and tenement buildings line the canals, many of which are now art ateliers and antique shops, and old barges are moored up as cafés and overspills to the canalside bars and clubs.
Boat trips can be taken up the 50km long Naviglio Grande (the more western canal) to the village of Gaggiano, past classical houses and old mechanical features designed by Leonardo da Vinci (see Play). Work on the Naviglio Grande began in 1177 and was completed in 1257; it took as its source the Ticino river, which lies south-west of Milan, and finished in the Darsena (docks alongside Viale Gorizia). The other, Naviglio Pavese, was built in stages from the 14th century till 1819, and flows out for 33km from the Darsena back into the Ticino. Originally, Milan’s waterways were a citywide medieval structure built to ferry the marble building blocks from the quarries of Candoglia to the Duomo. The canal system also provided irrigation for the plains of Lombardy and served as an important trade link between the north and south, connecting a landlocked city to the country’s ports. In 1929, Milan’s canal network was mostly filled in to make way for roads as barges were superseded by road travel.
Now, Navigli is an eclectic patchwork of old and new. At its heart is Porta Ticinese, where the two canals and the docks meet; here traders were originally marshalled by two imposing pale yellow dazi (customs houses) that still preside at the centre of the action (although one contains a raucous bar and the other a Communist club). The main strip, Corso di Porta Ticinese, is packed with young, jeansy shops and hip yet cheap restaurants and bars, and leads north to the ancient Roman Colonne di San Lorenzo – 16 Corinthian columns that flank the church of San Lorenzo Maggiore. To the west is Porta Genova, an up-and-coming area where lots of fashion designers and photographers have opened studios. Also west is one of Milan’s most important churches, the Basilica of Sant’ Ambrogio, built in ad 386 by Milan’s patron saint, Ambrose. The two navigli themselves are crowded with tourists and students, who populate the bars, restaurants, cafés, art galleries, record shops, artisan boutiques and junk shops. Once a month is the Mercatone dell’Antiquariato along the Naviglio Grande, an antiques market selling bric-à-brac and collectibles. In the summer, the Navigli is besieged by cool crowds as both close to traffic after 8.30pm and canalside bars and cafés stay open till late for jazz and other live music.
