Merate ( Brianzöö: ) is a municipality of 14,872 inhabitants in the

province of Lecco The Province of Lecco ( it, provincia di Lecco; Lecchese: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco. As of 2017, the province had a population of 337,211 on a surface of divided into 85 ''comuni'' (muni ...

, in the northern

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of Lombardy. It is served by Cernusco-Merate railway station.

History

The name ''Melatum'' appeared for the first time in the 4th century; it may be derived from the Greek for black/gloomy/dark because of the presence of woods, or from the Italian for apple (mela): an important fruit from the region. During the fighting between the Torriani and the Visconti families for the supremacy of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, Merate (in particular the castle) suffered considerable damage. It recovered during the 17th century after being decimated by the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

; finally becoming one of the richest towns of the region, after

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco'') ...

. At the beginning of the 16th century an academic institute was constructed: at the end of the 18th century the young writer/poet

Alessandro Manzoni Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni (, , ; 7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel '' The Betrothed'' (orig. it, I promessi sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the maste ...

studied at this school, and after his death the school took on his name. After the unification of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Merate grew as an industrial centre with the development of the banking and textile industries. At the end of the 19th century it became one of the first Italian towns to have electricity, gas and piped drinking water. The interwar period saw considerable development of the mechanical and textile industries. In 1926 the

astronomical observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. H ...

was constructed, and in the same year the municipality was enlarged, incorporating many neighbouring communities. Industry continued to increase after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The population passed to 9,000 inhabitants in 1951, and is 14,000 today. Merate received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1991.

Main sights

* Palazzo Prinetti (18th century), with a high cylindrical tower *Villa Confalonieri (late 19th century) *Villa Baslini *Villa Belvedere *Villa "Il Mombello" *Villa "Il Subaglio" *The Santctuary of Madonna del Bosco (17th century), housing a ''Deposition'' by Domenico Campi.

Astronomical observatory

Starting from the end 19th century

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day or night. Light po ...

from

disturbed the activities of the Brera

. However, the idea to construct a new observatory outside the City was not realized until the 1920s with the acquisition of the villa San Rocco: this used to be a Capuchin monastery before becoming a private villa and then a psychiatric clinic following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. Today

Brianza Brianza (, , lmo, label= Brianzöö dialect, Briànsa) is a geographical, historical and cultural area of Italy, at the foot of the Alps, in the northwest of Lombardy, between Milan and Lake Como. Geography Brianza extends from th ...

is one of the most densely populated regions of Italy and the light pollution is considerable. Nonetheless, the observatory is still used for research activities (leader in the production of

X-ray X-rays (or rarely, ''X-radiation'') are a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. In many languages, it is referred to as Röntgen radiation, after the German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who discovered it in 1895 and named it ' ...

optics), as well as course- and thesis-work for the students of Milan University.

Twinned towns

Buzançais Buzançais (; oc, Buzancei; la, Busentiacum or ) is a commune and town in the French department of Indre, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire. It is situated northwest of Châteauroux, the nearest large city, and is near the Brenne ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Kappeln Kappeln ( da, Kappel) is a town in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the north bank of the Schlei, approx. northeast of Schleswig, and southeast of Flensburg. For the eastern Angeln and th ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Mayors of Merate from 1860 (from municipality website)

*1860 - 1861 Federico Sala *1861 - 1864 Berengario Barbiano di Belgiojoso *1864 - 1870 Luigi Prinetti *1870 - 1886 Carlo Cornaggia *1887 - 1893 Vitale Bianchi *1893 - 1899 Antonio Baslini *1900 - 1905 Giambattista Colombo *1905 - 1920 Carlo Baslini *1920 - 1922 Mario Bevilacqua *1922 - 1923 Alessandro Tettamanti *1924 - 1925 Carlo Baslini *1926 - 1943 Carlo Baslini (podestà) *1945 - 1946 Gerolamo Bonfanti Palazzi *1946 - 1946 Alessandro Tettamanti *1946 - 1960 Mario Sala *1960 - 1964 Enrico Ferrario *1964 - 1975 Luigi Zappa *1975 - 1985 Giuseppe Ghezzi *1985 - 1990 Giacomo Romerio *1990 - 1995 Mario Gallina *1995 - 2004 Dario Perego *2004 - 2009 Giovanni Battista Albani *2009 - .... Andrea Ambrogio Robbiani

External links

Brera astronomical observatory, Merate

Merate on line

{{authority control Cities and towns in Lombardy Populated places on Brianza