It is a pleasure to leave behind the traffic of Milan, riding a bike along the Martesan Canal, or even by underground after taking Green Line 2: for sure, it is not difficult to reach Gorgonzola – even in a sustainable and quiet way.
Why choosing an out-of-town trip to Gorgonzola? The town with its 20.000 inhabitants bears the name of the Italian second most famous in the world cheese, but very few people know it as a remarkable city with buildings of historical and artistic value and open sights of the urban landscape, especially evocative along the Martesana waterway with bridges, clearings and views.
Wandering through silent lanes, the visitor may arrive to the monumental neoclassical church of Saints Gervaso and Protaso, designed by architect Simone Cantoni, with the large niche of the Serbelloni mausoleum, the noble family who dominated here for centuries, and whose presence still remains in the Palace and in the outstanding park, now known as Sola Cabiati. Another small neoclassical treasure, the recently restored Freganeschi-Pirola palace, also faces the waterfront.
The very spirit of time can be perceived admiring the Serbelloni hospital, suspended in time and waiting for a new vocation, whereas in the ancient cemetery, also designed by Cantoni, that hosts an octagonal mortuary chapel at its centre, paths unwind among family tombs in neoclassic, romantic and liberty style.
The small Saints Peter and Paul church, known as Sanctuary of “Our Lady of Help”, and the Chiosi rustic yard, an evocative space belonging to a former monastery with centuries old mulberry trees and the façade of a building in cotto and stone with a porch bring our imagination back to the 13th century.
And the cheese, born here with the original name of “Stracchino of gorgonzola”? In the downtown streets, almost completely left to pedestrians, a ‘ritual’ takes place all the year round and, in September, it becomes a real celebration: restaurants, delicatessens, bakeries and even ice-cream parlors offer the Gorgonzola cheese “pure” or as a special ingredient for sweet and salted dishes.
The main event is, of course, represented by the “National Festival of Gorgonzola” that takes place the third weekend of September with stands and degustations available for the holders of the ‘gorgo-card’.
The following shop owners located in the Gorgonzola area (listed below in alphabetical order) joined the event promoted by the Town Council “Gorgonzola for EXPO 2015” and the marketing project in cooperation with ReGiS and Fondazione Cariplo “Valorizzare il patrimonio dei giardini storici lombardi attraverso lo sviluppo di una rete sostenibile di competenze” (Valorize the heritage of historical Lombardia gardens through the development of a sustainable network of competences”), by providing clients with discounts and gorgonzola-flavoured products .
- B&B Il MULINO DI GORGONZOLA •
via Mulino Vecchio 10 – bed & breakfast
Free bicycles available for the clients - B&B MILLE O UNA NOTTE •
via Beccaria 3 – bed & breakfast
7 consecutive nights: 10% discount - BAR DEL PARCO •
via Martesana 2 – snack bar
gorgonzola-flavoured appetizers and snacks accompanied by dried, exotic fruit, vegetables, honeys, onion confit; sandwiches with gorgonzola; pairs with aromatic and passito wines• CALDO FORNO •
viale Kennedy 2 – bakery
gorgonzola-flavoured pizza and focaccia• CAPOLINEA •
via Cavour 1 – ice cream shop
On holidays : gorgonzola-flavoured artisanal ice-cream with tasty pairs - CARTOLERIA IL CAMPANILE •
via Serbelloni 23 – stationery shop
10% discount on purchases > 25 € (books not included)• CHARME •
piazza Cagnola 9 – hairdresser
on Wednesdays 10 % discount off the total price on the price list - CHICCHI E PASTICCI •
via Pertini 4 – bakery, pastry shop, coffee shop
bread, risotto, pasta, appetizers and pastries with gorgonzola• DOLCI & SAPORI •
via Colombo 23 – bakery
pizza with gorgonzola and speck, four-cheese pizza everyday
gnocchi with gorgonzola on Thursdays and Fridays
- DOLCI TENTAZIONI •
via Parini 5 – pastry shop
gorgonzola-flavoured ice-cream on first Sunday of the month - EFFEMME •
via Buonarroti 63 – gas station
10% discount off car accessories
tyre check and free coffee every 100 € of purchase (served by the attendant)• EROS GIOIELLI •
via Italia 23 – jewellery
10 – 15% discounts• FASCINATION VIAGGI •
via Cantoni 2 – travel agency
Expo tickets on sale
- FORTUNA BAR RISTORANTE SELF-SERVICE •
via Milano 14/G – bar and self-service restaurant
pasta, rice, gnocchi with saffron and gorgonzola, pizza with hot salami and gorgonzola• GORGOLIVE •
www.gorgolive.it
online sale of gorgonzola cheese• IN COOP – COOP VICINATO LOMBARDIA •
via Ratti – supermarket
display stand with gorgonzola cheese and 30% discount on expo tickets for Coop associates• LA CANTINETTA •
via Serbelloni 34 – winery, snack bar
tray with salami, hams with honey flavoured gorgonzola paired to a DOC passito wine from the Colli Picentini, pennette with gorgonzola and strawberries• LA VINERIA DEL CENTRO •
via Italia 30 – restaurant
gnocchi with gorgonzola, cornmeal mush and zola, roasted slice of beef with zola and pistachio fondue from Mondays to Saturdays - MACELLERIA APOSTOLO •
piazza Cagnola – butcher shop
“quadrel “(cornmeal mush, gorgonzola and salami), lasagne with gorgonzola, gorgonzola• MACELLERIA EQUINA •
via Serbelloni 63 – butcher shop
gorgonzola ‘argentiola’• MAD – PIAZZA E BURGER •
piazza Garibaldi 7 bis – restaurant- pizzeria
pizza with gorgonzola and sausage, roasted slice with gorgonzola• PASSIONQKING •
via Montegrappa 2 – cooking school
Cooking courses with con gorgonzola-based menu available on reservation; events and courses during the National Gorgonzola Festival and Saint Catherine’s fair• PASTICCERIA PIAVE •
via Piave – pastry shop
gorgonzola, chantilly cake with zola from Friday to Sunday - RISTORANTE D´APULIA •
via Matteotti 4 – restaurant, fish specialties
“millefoglie” with salted codfish and gorgonzola
• RISTORANTE VECCHIA PESA •
via Matteotti 41/C – restaurant
black rice timbale with sweet gorgonzola sauce and minced walnuts
- SOCIETA´ AGRICOLA COPPA SENTINELLA •
via del Parco 41 – Sale of extra virgin olive oil
Olio and ‘mosto cotto’ (grapes and figs)
• TITILLAPAPILLA •
via Italia 68/70 – icecream parlor
Artisanal gorgonzola icecream – different recipes
- TRATTORIA CAVALLINO BIANCO •
via per Cascina Antonietta 31 – typical restaurant
risotto gorgo and Bronte pistachios, beef filet with gorgonzola cream, tiramisu with gorgonzola and linden honey, just on holidays and fairs - TRATTORIA DEL SOLE •
vai Buonarroti 42 – typical restaurant
risotto, cornmeal mush, gnocchi and pasta with gorgonzola on reservation
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