Villapizzone

Villapizzone is a district ("quartiere") of Milan, Italy. It belongs to the Zone 8, located north of the city centre. It was an autonomous comune until 1869.

==History== The origins of Villapizzone traditionally traces back to the 6th century, when a saintly Greek monk named Atanasio Piccione settled down in a forest and began to lead a community of Greek friars. The place was named Villaggio Piccione or Villa Piccione, hence Villapizzone. According to Giacomo Stella, who was the dean of the local church of San Martino in 1530, the friars initially deforested an area to cultivate it, then they built a little village consisting of some farmhouse and a church.