Castiglione Olona

Castiglione Olona
Comune
Comune di Castiglione Olona
Location of Castiglione Olona
Castiglione Olona Location of Castiglione Olona in Italy Show map of Italy Castiglione Olona Castiglione Olona (Lombardy) Show map of Lombardy
Coordinates: 45°45′N8°53′E / 45.750°N 8.883°E / 45.750; 8.883
Country	Italy
Region	Lombardy
Province	Varese (VA)
Frazioni	Gornate Superiore, Caronno Corbellaro
Government
• Mayor	Emanuele Poretti
Area [1]
• Total	7 km2 (3 sq mi)
Elevation	307 m (1,007 ft)
Population  (2015) [2]
• Total	7,753
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Demonym	Castiglionesi
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	21043
Dialing code	0331
Website	Official website

Castiglione Olona: medieval bridge over Olona river

Castiglione Olona is a town and comune in the province of Varese, in Lombardy. As of 31 December 2015, it has a population of 7,753 inhabitants. ^[3]

The area of the town with the greatest tourist attractions is the historic center.

The entrance to the historic center is through two gates in the ancient medieval walls, both on the street Via Roma: the Western Gate, for the people arriving from the medieval bridge over the Olona River, and the Eastern Gate, for those arriving from the modern part of the town.

History

The town of Castiglione Olona rose around the fifth century CE under the Roman Empire domain. Consequently, the Lombards entered and took possession of the village until the Castiglioni family became sole proprietor of the land around 1000 AC. The family engaged in many battles for the rule of the lands so they had walls built all around the village to protect themselves from enemies. Today only a small part of the walls near the fortress is visitable. In 1422, cardinal Branda da Castiglione obtained the permission from Pope Martin V to build the church of Collegiata (Santi Stefano e Lorenzo); the church contains frescoes attributed to Masolino. ^[4]

In the town, the 15th and 16th century palace of cardinal Branda now serves as a museum, still contains a chapel and a number of frescoed walls, some attributed to Sienese painter Vecchietta. ^[5]

The church of the Santissimo Corpo di Cristo, also known as the church of Villa, is located in G. Garibaldi square in the historic center. The building, constructed between 1437 and 1444 on the site of an ancient oratory of the 13th century dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre, declares a close descent from Brunelleschi's architectural models. ^[6]

Twin towns — sister cities

Castiglione Olona is twinned with:

• Étupes, France

Sport

• The Varesina stadium complex and Stadio Comunale di Venegono is home to Varesina Sport CV SSD football team.

• The Moto Club Castiglione Olona organised motorcycle speedway and the track on Via Asiago. It hosted important events, including qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Team Cup in 1976 and 1980 ^[7] and a qualifying round of the Speedway World Championship in 1978. ^[8]

The site of the former track is the Varesina Sports Center, which today has two synthetic football pitches and a smaller covered indoor pitch.

References

1. "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
2. ISTAT Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
3. "Popolazione Castiglione Olona (2001-2020) Grafici su dati ISTAT".
4. "Città di Castiglione Olona". Archived from the original on 2016-07-23. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
5. Lombardia Beni Culturali, entry on the palace.
6. https://www.chiesadimilano.it/news/arte-cultura/la-chiesa-di-villa-a-castiglione-olona-tempio-del-rinascimento-toscano-in-lombardia-746791.html
7. "Speedway World Cup". International Speedway. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
8. "World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 2 February 2024.