Visitors pulling into this Milanese municipality of roughly 23,000 residents are stepping onto the site of a major turning point in European history. On June 4, 1859, French and Sardinian forces under Napoleon III defeated the Austrian Empire here at the Battle of Magenta, a pivotal clash that helped secure Italian independence.
The political shockwaves of that victory were felt far beyond the battlefield. Later that same year, French chemist François-Emmanuel Verguin renamed his newly patented aniline dye to commemorate the military triumph. Consequently, this Lombard town permanently lent its name to the purplish-red hue that forms the backbone of modern CMYK printing.
Near Magenta
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
