Did you know that Cascina Visconta is a type of rural building typical of the Po Valley? It is especially traditional in Lombardy. These buildings also appear in areas of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. The term “cascina” has been used since the Middle Ages. It was often spelt capsina or caxina.
The name Cascina Visconta likely comes from Vulgar Latin. Capsia meant corral or stockyard. Another interpretation links it to Old Italian “cascio” which means cheese. This suggests these farms were often dairies. Farmhouses called cassine have been recorded as early as the 13th century. Centralized farms with boxes, stables, houses, mills, and defensive towers arose around Pavia and Milan.
A typical cascina like Cascina Visconta is a square-yarded farm. It sits in the middle of cultivated land. Brick buildings line the courtyard. These include houses for the farm owner and peasants. You would also find stables and barns here. Fountains, ovens, stores, mills, and dairies were common.
Cascina Visconta and others were often isolated settlements. They sometimes housed up to one hundred people. Many had public buildings like churches and schools. Some were fortified with walls, towers, moats, and drawbridges.
Cascine are common in the Po Valley. Those in the High Po Valley are smaller. They housed about 4-6 families. Cascine in the Low Po Valley were larger. They could have 10-15 families or more. Some housed up to 25 families.
Peasants at Cascina Visconta and similar farms had specific jobs. “Campari” maintained irrigation. “Bergamini” cared for the cattle. “Casari” worked in the dairy. “Bifolchi” used oxen for tillage. “Cavallanti” used horses. “Contadini” were general farmers. Their main job was harvesting hay. Larger cascine also had carpenters, masons, and blacksmiths.
Production at Cascina Visconta and other Po Valley farms mainly included wheat and maize. Rice and barley were also common. Milk and cheese were important products. They also grew cottonwood, elm, and mulberry trees. Cascine near cities like Milan grew fresh vegetables. Cabbage and carrots were profitable in urban markets.
However cascine like Cascina Visconta declined in the 20th century. They lost their former function. Many were demolished or are now vacant. Some have been absorbed by urban sprawl. They have been converted into residential buildings and schools. Hotels and restaurants can also be found in former cascine. Even airports in Milan were built on cascine land.
Yet some functioning cascine remain in the Lombard and Po Valley countryside. In 2008, at least 43 cascine still produced milk in the Province of Milan. Many place names in Lombardy include the word “cascina”. Cascina Gobba and Cassina Triulza are Milan neighborhoods. These names show that settlements grew from cascine. Sometimes only the cascina’s name remains.
Two movies depict daily life in a cascina. They are Ermanno Olmi’s The Tree of Wooden Clogs and Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900.
Cascina Linterno in Baggio is a heritage site. Scholars believe Francesco Petrarca lived there. It may have been a Hospitaller or Templar community seat.
So remember Cascina Visconta. It is a piece of rural history in the heart of the Po Valley. It represents a way of life that shaped this region for centuries.