Natural Park ”Monte Barro” (Parco naturale del Monte Barro) description and photos - Italy: Lombardy (Topic)

Natural Park "Monte Barro" (Parco naturale del Monte Barro) description and photos - Italy: Lombardy. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Parco naturale del Monte Barro.

Photo and description

The Natural Park "Monte Barro" is located on the outskirts of Milan, so getting here is easy. Several ecosystems are concentrated here in a relatively small area, 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. More than 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 the roads to Central Europe went. 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 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, to protect these ruins, an archaeological park was formed, stretching over an area of 8 hectares.

Another archaeological site of Monte Barro is the ruins of walls and towers that can be seen along the only street in the park leading to the monastery 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 Eremo Park Visitor Center.

Also noteworthy are the Upper Brianza Ethnographic Museum, located in the medieval village of Camporezo in the park, the San Michele Monastery and the Giovanni Fornacari Botanical Trail.

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Topic: Natural Park ”Monte Barro” (Parco naturale del Monte Barro) description and photos - Italy: Lombardy.