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Napoleon ‘s passion for greenery is well known. Immediately after his triumphal entry into Milan , the great general had long rows of trees planted in the most stately avenues of the historic center. He loved Milan but preferred to stay in Monza, especially during the hot summer months. Just to defend himself from the heat he created a curious legacy: a massive presence of plane trees, trees of which he was – this few people know – literally fanatical! We findNapoleon’s“plane trees” scattered just about everywhere, in the city and out of town.
It is said that just before the famous Battle of Marengo (June 14, 1800), Napoleon camped with his army in a plain, but, to be inconspicuous, he and his men all hid behind the branches of a plane tree! Villa Litta ‘s eleven plane trees also date from Napoleon’s time, and it is common to see owl nests in the hollows of their trunks.
The city’s most “talked about” plane tree, however, is the one that still stands majestically on Viale Affori. It is said that Napoleon himself had it planted as a tribute to a beautiful woman for whom he had lost his head! Perhaps these are just legends… but a piece of history is also enshrined in the silence of that great plane tree. Then again, of stories and anecdotes our general left behind so many!
Try, as soon as you can, to retrace the long tree-lined avenues of our city, especially in less central neighborhoods or in some sections of the ring road. Lay your eyes on all those plane trees, tall and beautiful in these spring months, so sturdy and resistant to air pollution, ready to dispense generous moments of shade as soon as summer warms the city, just as in the days of the great French general!
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