Milan neighbourhoods
Chiaravalle
A rural village inside Milan, built around a Cistercian abbey.
- Market
- None on the street
- Transport
- No metro; bus 77 from Corvetto (M3); Vettabbia cycle path from the Porta Romana park
- District
- 5
What it's like
Chiaravalle lies on the far south-eastern edge of Milan, beyond the motorway junction, in the middle of the Parco Agricolo Sud. It is one of the few points where the city boundary still encloses real countryside: rice fields, water meadows, working farmhouses.
The village grew up around the Abbey of Chiaravalle, founded by St Bernard in 1135 and one of the first Cistercian settlements in Italy.
It was the monks who drained and irrigated the whole plain south of Milan, with the system of channels and water meadows that made the land fertile. The Gothic brick church, with its lantern tower nicknamed the Ciribiciaccola, is open to visitors.
Around the abbey there are a few houses, a restored mill and the paths that follow the Vettabbia channel back to the centre. It is a countryside outing fifteen minutes from the Duomo.
The market
This neighbourhood has no weekly open-air street market. The nearest ones are in the neighbourhoods below.
Green space and the outdoors
Where to eat and drink
The abbey has a guesthouse and a shop with monastery products; in the village there are a few country trattorias and a farm-stay in the nearby farmhouses.
On Sundays, in the abbey cloister, a small market of farm produce and crafts is often held. For a proper street market the nearest is in Vigentino or the Corvetto area.
Getting there
Chiaravalle has no metro: it is reached by bus 77 from Corvetto (M3), or by bike along the Vettabbia cycle path, which starts at the Porta Romana park and reaches the abbey in about ten kilometres, almost all through green. By car you leave via Ripamonti or the Paullese road.
No metro; bus 77 from Corvetto (M3); Vettabbia cycle path from the Porta Romana park
Frequently asked questions
How to get to Chiaravalle Abbey from Milan?
By bus 77 from the M3 Corvetto stop, which arrives almost in front of the abbey. Alternatively by bike along the Vettabbia cycle path from the Porta Romana park, a route of about 10 km almost entirely through green.
Can you visit Chiaravalle Abbey?
Yes. The church and the cloister are open to the public at set times; the monastic community still lives there. At the entrance there is a shop with monastery products.
Nearby neighbourhoods
Data: City of Milan — weekly open-air markets (DS291), CC-BY. Reviewed .