Bridging Cultures. On Friday January 17 2025 – 20.00
Associazione Liberamente.NL – Eindhoven
English Version
Bridging Cultures: What Milan and Eindhoven Share. Comparing Milan, Italy and Eindhoven, the Netherlands. A narrative of the similarities between the two cities due to their natural location and their shared history.
English version for those who don’t speak Italian: click here . Available also as file MP3 in English. Enjoy!
L’originale in italiano
È disponibile anche la versione originale della chiacchierata eindhovenese sempre qui su ItalianaContemporanea.
The Navigli: Highways Before the Age of Horsepower
Milan has always floated on water: three rivers flow through the city — the Olona, the Seveso, and the Lambro. In the 12th century, people began digging canals and building docks. The dock you see in this beautiful print is known as “Santo Stefano’s Dock.”
The dock known as the “Laghetto di Santo Stefano” was created at the end of the 14th century to solve the problem of transporting marble blocks from the Naviglio Grande dock to the construction site of the Cathedral. In 1857, the hospital’s health officer — whose office was only a few steps away — ordered the dock to be permanently buried for sanitary reasons. Today, the only reminder is the name of the street: Via Laghetto. Since the 1930s, what was once Milan’s main hospital, the Ca’ Granda, has become the University of Milan.
The Navigli are a testament to Milan’s deep-rooted commercial vocation, which dates back to the 11th and 12th centuries. The Naviglio Grande, the oldest canal, began construction in 1177.
Originally designed for agricultural irrigation, over time it became a vital trade route, enabling the transport of goods, including the marble used to build the Duomo.
Centuries later, Leonardo da Vinci contributed to this network by designing an innovative system of locks, further enhancing its functionality and efficiency. These canals turned Milan into a strategic hub of trade, linking it to rivers, lakes, and beyond. A system with incredible staying power — the Naviglio Grande in Milan stopped all commercial activities as late as 1973!
Milan OK. But Eindhoven?
By the way, did I mention that Eindhoven has its own canals too? Just think of the Canal Dike! A long trade route in an industrial district that is now undergoing a transformation.
