Everything about Busto Arsizio totally explained
Busto Arsizio is a
city in the region of
Lombardy, in northern
Italy, 25 km north of
Milan in the
province of Varese.
The economy of Busto Arsizio is mainly based on industry and commerce.
History
Despite repeated claims by
Lega Nord and her local allies about a
Celtic heritage, recent studies seem to show that the "
bustocchi"'s descendants were
Ligurians, called ‘wild’ by
Pliny, ‘marauders and robbers’ by
Livy and ‘unshaven and hairy’ by
Pompeius Tragus. They were good at working iron and much sought after as mercenary soldiers. A very remote Ligurian influence is perceptible in the local dialect,
Bustocco, slightly different from other
Western Lombard varieties, according to local expert Luigi Giavini, author of a vocabulary.
Traditionally these first inhabitants used to set fire to woods made of old and young oaks and black hornbeams, which at that time, covered the whole
Padan Plain. This
slash-and-burn practice, known as "debbio" in
Italian, aimed to create fields where grapevines or cereals such as foxtail, millet and rye were grown, or just to create open spaces where stone huts with thatched roofs were built.
By doing this they created a
bustum (burnt, in
Latin), that's a new settlement which, in order to be distinguished from the other nearby settlements, was assigned a name:
arsicium (again "burnt", or better "arid") for Busto Arsizio, whose name is actually a
tautology;
carulfì for nearby
Busto Garolfo,
cava for Busto Cava, later
Buscate.
The slow increase in population was helped without doubt by the
Gauls from the
Insubri tribe, a
Celtic population who arrived in successive waves by crossing the Alps about 500 years before Christ. It is said that they defeated the
Etruscans, who by then controlled the area, leaving some geographical names behind (Arno creek, not to be confused with Florence's river;
Castronno;
Caronno;
Biandronno; etc.)
Busto Arsizio's site wasn't chosen randomly: in fact, the settlement was created on an area on the route from
Milan to
Lake Maggiore (called ‘Milan’s road’, an alternative route to the existent
Sempione), part of which, before the creation of the
Naviglio Grande, made
use of the navigational water of the
Ticino river.
However, nothing is sure about Busto Arsizio's past till the
10th century, when the town is first hinted at in documents, already with its present name:
"loco Busti qui dicitur Arsizio". A part of the powerful Contado of the Seprio, in
1176 its citizens are likely to have taken part (on both sides...) to the famous
Battle of Legnano, actually fought between Busto's
frazione of Borsano and nearby
Villa Cortese, when the
Barbarossa was defeated by the Communal militia of the
Lombard League. From the 13th century the town became renowned for its production of textiles. Even its
feudalization in later centuries under several lords, vassals of the masters of
Milan, didn't stop its slow but constant growth; nor did the
plague, which hit hard in
1630, traditionally being stopped by the Virgin Mary after the
bustocchi, always a pious
Catholic flock, prayed for respite from the deadly epidemic.
By the half of the
19th century modern industry began to take over strongly: in a few decades Busto Arsizio became the so-called "
Manchester of
Italy". In
1864 it was granted
city privileges by king
Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. The city kept on growing for more than a century, absorbing the nearby Comuni of Borsano and Sacconago in
1927 on a major administrative reform implemented by the
Fascist regime, and was only marginally damaged even by
World War II (a single
Allied airdropped bomb is said to have hit the train station). During the conflict Busto Arsizio was a major industrial center of war production, and the occupying
Germans moved there the Italian national radio. The
Italian resistance movement here was active, more with
strikes and
sabotage than
guerrilla, but strengthened in time, suffering grievous losses to arrests, tortures and deportation to the Nazi
lager system. The names of
Mauthausen-Gusen and
Flossenburg concentration and extermination camps are sadly known to the
bustocchi, as dozens of their fellow citizens died there. When, on
25 April,
1945, the
partisans took over, Busto Arsizio thus gave voice to the first free
radio channel in northern Italy since the advent of
Fascism.
After the war, the city turned in time increasingly on the right of the political spectrum, as its bigger industries in the Sixties and Seventies decayed, to be replaced by many familiar small enterprises and a new service-based economy. Today the town represents a major stronghold for both
Forza Italia and
Lega Nord.
Main sights
Traditional festivals
The saint patron of the city is Saint
John the Baptist, whose feast is traditionally celebrated on the 24 of June. In recent times the town council has give also civic relevance to celebrations that up to now were almost completely of a religious kind.
During winter it's an established tradition since time immemorial the burning of the
Giöbia (alternative spelling: Giöeubia), a (usually) female puppet, symbolizing the "chasing" out of winter and its troubles, and on a more sinister note, the change from a matriarchal to a patriarchal society in ancient times. Time ago each family prepared its simple puppet to be burnt, and then its ashes were dispersed to fertilize the fields as good omen. Now the celebration is more organized and publicly supported, but still heartily felt by the populace.
Sport
Busto Arsizio is the host for the Federazione Italiana Sport Croquet, the lawns being located at the "Cascina del Lupo" Sporting Centre just outside the town.
Pro Patria Calcio football club plays in Busto Arsizio.
Pro Patria Bustese Atletica is the
athletic society.
Yamamay Busto Arsizio Volley is the main
volleyball society of the city and plays in the first national division.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Busto Arsizio'.
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