Milano Marittima, Garden City: A Walking Tour

Milano Marittima wasn't born by chance: it's a garden city, conceived in 1912 by a group of Milanese entrepreneurs with the painter Giuseppe Palanti. Palanti envisioned a "holiday garden city" where villas are built within the pine forest, without destroying it. This walking itinerary follows its path: about an hour and a half, entirely flat.

Note: The historic villas are private homes: the route can be enjoyed from public spaces, exteriors, and sidewalks.

We begin at the canal that feeds the salt pans, the historic border with Cervia: this is where the first boats docked, and where the project for the new town began. The bridge over the canal is the perfect spot to orient yourself: on one side, Cervia with its salt pans, on the other, the pine forest where Milano Marittima would grow.

The town's living room, a meeting point for the network of avenues modeled after English garden cities: the streets don't follow a rigid grid but rather green curves that follow the pine forest. Around the Rotonda are historic cafés and shopping streets.

Among the Traverse and internal avenues, the villas from the early decades still survive: Art Nouveau and eclectic villas immersed in greenery, built according to the founding principle: the villa in the woods, never the woods sacrificed to the villa. As you walk, you'll recognize turrets, loggias, and period fences. Remember: these are private homes, to be admired from the outside.

The itinerary ends where it all began: in the pine forest, the heritage that the garden city has chosen to inhabit without destroying. Shaded paths lead back to the center or continue toward the spa.