Contemplate for a moment how Quarto Cagnino got its peculiar name. The name Quarto Cagnino comes from its distance of four Roman miles from Milan. Imagine Roman soldiers marching from the center of Milan. They would have traveled four Roman miles to reach this very spot.
Quarto Cagnino is a district of Milan. It sits in Zone 7 of the city. Before 1869 Quarto Cagnino was its own town. It was briefly part of Trenno. Today Quarto Cagnino borders Trenno San Siro Baggio and Quinto Romano.
Once a rural area Quarto Cagnino is now urban. In the 1960s GESCAL projects brought quick development. GESCAL meant Housing for Workers. These projects created apartment blocks for low-income residents. You can see examples along Via Carlo Marx.
Huge apartment buildings dominate Quarto Cagnino. Yet ancient cascine remain. These farms remind us of the district’s rural past. Find these cascine along Via Fratelli Zoia. This street was once the main street of Quarto Cagnino.
The history of Quarto Cagnino goes back to Roman times. The name quarto means fourth. This refers to being four Roman miles from Milan. In the Middle Ages Quarto Cagnino became a rural borgo. It became important because it was on a pilgrimage route to the Holy Land. It also sat on the road to Santiago de Compostela.
In the 1700s and 1800s many cascine appeared. Farmers grew mulberries grapes and fodder here. In 1846 Quarto Cagnino had 298 people. Its land covered 182 hectares.
In 1861 Quarto Cagnino Figino and Quinto Romano joined Trenno. Trenno then became part of Milan in 1869. Quarto Cagnino is connected to Milan by bus lines. San Carlo Hospital is located here. Also Parco delle Cave and Parco di Trenno are partly in Quarto Cagnino.
In Quarto Cagnino you see a mix of old and new. Modern apartments stand near historic farms. This blend tells the story of Quarto Cagnino’s journey. It changed from a rural village to a modern Milanese district. The past and present meet here in Quarto Cagnino.