Milan neighbourhoods
Giambellino and Lorenteggio
Working-class Milan as ever: housing estates, courtyards and a strong sense of neighbourhood.
- Market
- Wed · Thu · Sat · 3 markets see below ↓
- Transport
- M4 Gelsomini, M4 Segneri, M4 Frattini; M1 Bande Nere / Inganni (to the north); tram 14; buses 47, 63, 76
- District
- 6
What it's like
Giambellino and Lorenteggio occupy the western belt between the Naviglio Grande and piazza Napoli, along the two streets that give the quarters their names.
They grew up between the wars and after 1945 as working-class quarters, with large public-housing complexes, and took in waves of immigration first from the Veneto and the south, then from outside Italy.
Giambellino entered the Milanese imagination through the books of Giovanni Testori and songs about neighbourhood crime, and for decades it carried a label of decay that does not do justice to its very active associations, parishes and community centres.
Today Lorenteggio is the focus of one of Milan's largest urban regeneration programmes, funded with European money: new housing, the M4 which arrived in 2023, rebuilt public spaces. The quarter is changing its face but remains deeply working-class.
The market
Della Rondine
District 6 · Lorenteggio
Gelsomini
District 6 · Giambellino
Vespri Siciliani
District 6 · Giambellino
See the area's markets in detail →
Covered markets
Farmers markets
Green space and the outdoors
Dog areas
- largo Giambellino · 628 m²
- piazza Frattini · 403 m²
- vie Bellini - Brunelleschi · 543 m²
- via degli Anemoni - Gigli - dei Giacinti - Primaticcio · 581 m²
- vie Savona - Brunelleschi · 1117 m²
- piazza Tirana · 590 m²
Playgrounds
- largo Gelsomini · 289 m²
- largo Brasilia · 104 m²
- via Odazio · 225 m²
- largo Giambellino · 535 m²
- via delle Rose · 22 m²
- giardino Giambellino · 466 m²
Where to eat and drink
Giambellino's cooking is local and increasingly international: Milanese trattorias, pizzerias, Egyptian and South American rotisseries along via Giambellino and via Lorenteggio.
The quarter has three street markets: via Gelsomini / Segneri on Thursday, via Vespri Siciliani on Wednesday and via della Rondine on Saturday.
Getting there
The blue M4, opened in 2023, crosses Lorenteggio with the Gelsomini, Segneri and Frattini stops, linking the quarter to San Babila in about twenty minutes.
To the north are the M1 stops of Bande Nere and Inganni. On the surface there is tram 14 along via Lorenteggio.
M4 Gelsomini, M4 Segneri, M4 Frattini; M1 Bande Nere / Inganni (to the north); tram 14; buses 47, 63, 76
Frequently asked questions
Where is Giambellino in Milan?
Giambellino is in District 6, to the west, between the Naviglio Grande, piazza Napoli and via Lorenteggio. It borders the Lorenteggio and Bande Nere quarters.
Is Giambellino a dangerous neighbourhood?
It is a densely lived-in working-class quarter, with a historic reputation worse than today's reality. As in any urban area it needs normal care at night; the neighbourhood, community and commercial life is intense and daytime.
Nearby neighbourhoods
Data: City of Milan — weekly open-air markets (DS291), CC-BY. Reviewed .