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Canali Lombardi /
Navigli Leonardo

Naviglio Martesana
























Naviglio Martesana
This waterway was first called Naviglio Piccolo and was navigable around 1470 already, but its important times began 1554 - 1564 only when the lock of San Marco was built. Therewith it got a connection to the Naviglio Grande and barks were able to navigate from the Ticino over the Naviglio Grande, Naviglio Martesana and Fiume Adda to the Po.
The Naviglio Martesana was fed by River Adda and had enough current to drive wind mills by the way. The canal was modernised all through its existence of 450 years. Yet in the 19th century its dimensions were expanded to the "French" size (39 x 5.10 m).  In 1970 the responsibility for the canal went from the country to the region Lombardi, which gave it to the Consotio di Bonifica Est Ticino Villoresi in 1983. In the nineties, the canal got declassed and the area between the main station of Milan and the Darsena at the Porte Ticinese was overbuilt. Large parts of the old towpath are now a very popular destination to cyclists.