Navigating the Navigli of Milan is an unmissable experience to discover and rediscover the history and geography of the Navigli of Milan from an unusual and original vantage point, sitting quietly on board a boat.
VersoVerde can organize a pleasant tour of the Darsena on request.
Along the river you can walk along some historical stretches of the Navigli, once crossed by the barges that supplied the city of Milan with the most disparate goods, including the famous Candoglia marble destined for the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo.
A few meters from VersoVerde it is possible to admire the singular double church of San Cristoforo, consisting of the first Romanesque nucleus, remodeled in the fourteenth century, and the subsequent architectural intervention sponsored by Gian Galeazzo Visconti on the occasion of the sudden cessation of the plague that had dramatically affected the city of Milan.
Compulsory stop is the Vicolo dei Lavandai, the most famous of the Milanese wash houses active until the end of the fifties. Recently restored, the wash house brings to mind the hard work of the washerwomen who, kneeling on the wooden “brellin”, rubbed the clothes on the stone stalls still present in the alley.
Or Palazzo Galloni, a building with a large and complex structure, in the seventeenth century the home of a wealthy bourgeois family. Characterized in the façade by a low building once used as a warehouse for activities related to navigation on the Naviglio, the building is now the seat of the Engraving Center, founded in 1975.
Finally, the Darsena, a veritable historic interchange port for the city of Milan until the 1970s.
The Darsena was completely redeveloped on the occasion of Expo 2015, making it one of the most modern and avant-garde places in the city, the center of nightlife and evening entertainment. The last intervention has returned the dock to the city allowing to recover part of the old waterway network, it is therefore back to be the beating heart of Milan and a meeting place for its citizens, where it is possible at the end of the guided tour to enjoy an aperitif in one of the many historical places of the Navigli or in the new places of the city street food.
The guided tour by boat on the Navigli will therefore allow you to observe a particularly characteristic area of Milan in an original, comfortable, fun way, making you discover its history, curiosities and traditions. A journey through past, present and future to discover the transformations of Milan, city of water.
