What is "assiano"

Assiano is a rural district (" quartiere") of Milan, Italy, part of the Zone 7 administrative division. It is a border district, at the western end of the city area. Before being annexed to Milan (in 1841), it was an autonomous comune, except for a brief period (1808-1816) when it was included in Cusago.

Although administratively part of Milan, Assiano is quite isolated from the urban area and has maintained its rural character. A distinctive feature of Assiano and nearby rural areas is the presence of several ancient "fontanili", i.e., artificial water springs.

The most important historic building in Assiano is the eponymous cascina (farmhouse), i.e., Cascina Assiano. In the past, the cascina has been the property of several notable Milanese families, including the Agnelli, the Feltrinelli, and the Migliavacca. Until the early 20th century, Cascina Assiano was the main driving force of the economy of the area, on which a number of other activities depended. For example, the local dairy factory "Gambini" was established to process milk produced in Cascina Assiano. Today, Cascina Assiano is publicly owned and abandoned (while the Gambini dairy factory has survived).