Description of the attraction
The Natural Park "Monte Barro" is located on the outskirts of Milan, so you can get here without much difficulty. Here, in a relatively small area, several ecosystems are concentrated, among other things of interest from the point of view of history, archeology and landscape.
Most of the park is covered with forests and fields, and on the very mountain of Monte Barro, on its rocky cliffs, an extraordinary floristic diversity is presented. In total, over a thousand species of plants grow in the park on an area of less than 700 hectares!
Due to its strategic location, Monte Barro is also an important habitat for several species of birds - here they are watched by the staff of the Costa Perla Bird Station. The station was once a bird nursery, and later it was converted into a scientific observatory.
The Natural Park "Monte Barro" is interesting not only for its naturalistic wealth, but also for its archaeological sites. Milan has been of great political importance since its inception, thanks to its location on the fertile Padan plain, through which there were roads to Central Europe. To protect the city from attacks by barbarians, its walls were fortified, and several castles were built on the approaches to the city from the Alpine valleys and on the shores of the lakes.
In 1986-1997, archaeological excavations were carried out on the territory of the Monte Barro Park, which confirmed the medieval legend about the existence of a mythical city in these places. As a result of the excavations, the ruins of a Gothic castle were discovered, the remains of a residential settlement in the town of Piani di Barra and a huge defensive system that surrounded the mountain on all sides. In 1992, an archaeological park was formed to protect these ruins, spreading over an area of 8 hectares.
Another archaeological site of Monte Barro is the ruins of walls and towers, which can be seen along the only street in the park leading to the hermitage of the same name on the mountain. And on the southern slope of the mountain you can see fortifications with three towers, which are called "murayo" in the local dialect. The most interesting archaeological exhibits are exhibited in the Antiquarium in the Visitor Center of the Eremo Park.
Also noteworthy are the Ethnographic Museum of Haute Brianza, located in the medieval village of Camporezo in the park, the Monastery of San Michele and the Giovanni Fornacari Botanical Trail.
