Buscate
Buscate: an old and charming Lombardian town
If you are interested in history and architecture, then you are in right place. Buscate, also known as ''Büscáa'' in Legnano's dialect, is a town of 4,579 inhabitants in the metropolitan city of Milan in Lombardy, whose history dates back to ancient times.
Origin of the name: from ''Büst(i) Cava'' to ''Büscáa''
Always known as ”Büst(i) Cava”, because it distinguished this locality from the nearby "Büsti Grandi" (Busto Grande, or Busto Arsizio) and "Büst Picul" (Busto Piccola, which instead indicates Busto Garolfo) in Legnano's dialect, today it is known as ''Büscáa''.
History: traces of an uncertain and undocumented past
The town of Buscate, as suggested by the name, has origins in the woods that were present south of Busto Arsizio. However, there are no certain and reliable sources to establish the historic origins of the town. It is known for sure that Buscate was a village of the illustrious and privileged parish of Dairago, where there was a collegiate church with the chapter. The canons distributed themselves every Saturday in the villages to exercise their ministry, and even today there are country roads called "dei canonici" precisely because the priests moved through these ways from Dairago to Buscate. The antiquity of the parish is clear from a "Cathalogus" of 1564 and, indirectly, from the "Status Ecclesiae" of 1466. The first existing parish registers in the parish archive date back to 1585.
Monuments and places of interest: a romantic and fairy-tale villa
The most important monument in Buscate is undoubtedly the Villa Rosales-Abbiate. The origins of this villa date back to the seventeenth century. In 1720, the Villa consisted only of the part of the current Naggi property. Later, the "noble" part of the Villa (with the entrance from Piazza Baracca) and finally the courtyard of the fountain (with the entrance from Via S. Pietro) were built. The park behind the Villa has also been progressively expanded thanks to the noble and ancient Spanish family of Ordoño de Rosales and Senator Mario Abbiate.
Society: demographic evolution and presence of foreign minorities
According to ISTAT data as of December 31, 2010, the foreign population residing in Buscate was 350 people. The nationalities most represented based on their percentage of the total resident population were Pakistan with 2.04% and Albania with 1.02%.
Infrastructure and transport: the tramway ''Gamba de legn''
Between 1880 and 1952, Buscate was served by the Milan-Magenta/Castano Primo tramway, known as "Gamba de legn". The line ran throughout the region and took passengers to discover nearby cities.
In conclusion, Buscate is a corner of Lombardy that contains many testimonies of its past and its history, both in the church with its imposing votive column, and in Villa Rosales-Abbiate, a symbol of the wealth and elegance of a bygone era. A visit to the town of Buscate is an opportunity to lose oneself in the streets of the past, immersed in the beauty of a territory rich in history and charm.
