| Parco Sempione | |
| Photo Alt: | A decorated stone arch seen from a distance through a vista with lawns and trees on the side. A metal fence is in the foregound |
| Map: | Italy Milan |
| Type: | Public |
| Location: | Zone 1, Milan, Italy |
| Coords: | 45.4734°N 9.1754°W |
| Created: | 1888 |
| Operator: | Comune di Milano |
| Open: | Opens 6:30 a.m. year round; closes 9 p.m. October–April, 9:30 p.m. in May and 10 p.m. June–September |
Parco Sempione ("Simplon Park") is a large city park in the historic center of Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy. Established in 1888, and designed by Emilio Alemagna, it has an overall area of, and it is located inside the Zone 1 administrative division.
The vaguely polygonal park is anchored to the southeast by grounds of the Sforza Castle and a linear axis leads in the northwest to the Arch of Peace. The perpendicular axis to these two landmarks is flanked on the northeast by the oval Arena Civica and in the southwest by the Palazzo dell'Arte ("Palace of Art"), built in 1933 to house the Fifth Triennale di Milano art and design exposition, and now a permanent museum, theater, and exhibition hall. Contemporary and near the Palazzo dell'Arte is the steel tower-spire Torre Branca, designed in 1933 by Gio Ponti as Tower Littoria (Lictor's Tower). Near the Arena, stands the public aquarium.
Prior to the Sempione Park, this site formed the Visconti ducal park or "Barcho". This oak and chestnut forest lands was enlarged and enclosed by the Sforza to encompass 3 million square meters in area. In addition to housing hunted game, exotic animals were also introduced by members of the house of Sforza.[1]
By the 18th century, the land was in disuse, and in 1861 was partly used for agriculture. The current park land was used for martial exercises and parades for the troops barracked in the Sforza Castle. During the Napoleonic era the architect Giovanni Antonio Antolini proposed the construction of the Foro Buonaparte or Bonaparte Forum, a large building complex around the castle. [2] Never completed, and in its place the parade ground was transformed into a large lawn for civic use, adorned on the north-eastern side by the Arena, and on the north-western side by the Arch of Peace, point of beginning of the axis of the Sempione.
After the unification of Italy, the military use of the area ceased,[3] and at the same time the city began to experience a demographic increase that required the construction of new neighborhoods. A real estate company proposed to redevelop the area of the castle (which was expected to be demolished) and the parade ground, similar to what was done in the area of the hospital, but the proposal caused strong protests from the citizenship of Milan. This led to the development of the committee established to draw up the first urban regulatory plan, developed up by the engineer Cesare Beruto (the Beruto Plan).[4] This plan, which initially included a partial incorporation of proposed building on the area and was modified several times to allocate the entire parade ground to a public garden. For the castle a restoration was planned, with the intention to create a destination for cultural uses.[5]
The park, called "Parco Sempione", was built between 1888 and 1894 according to the project of architect Emilio Alemagna,[6] which provided avenues for carriage, a pond and a belvedere where the Biblioteca del Parco Sempione currently stands. The green was designed according to the romantic model of the English parks.[7]
It owes its name to Corso Sempione, a major thoroughfare of Milan, dating back to the Napoleonic Empire.
The park has accumulated an eclectic set of public art-works, recently most were retained after their display in a Triennale:
The whole area of the park is covered by a free wireless network.[8]