Landscape



It is a kind of cultivation which dates back to the 12th century. It was introduced into Lombardy by the Cistercian friars who labouriously reclaimed springs, and marshes and recovered large areas of the territory where limestone springs flow. Water meadows are obtained letting the waters of these natural springs flow over the ground. The lands which are kept warm by the temperature of the water allow as many as 8 mowings a year supplying the cattle with precious fresh food even in the coldest months of the year. The wonderful green carpets of the water meadows, admired by everybody especially in winter, constitue, moreover, a source of food for wild ducks, coots, and water hens in winter especially when it snows. Nowadays cattle breeding is no longer practised by the farmers and consequently also the water meadows are about to disappear from the landscape. Only near the Sforzesca this cultivation is still practised on a large scale.

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