The patron saint of Rho is Saint Victor the Martyr, celebrated on 8 May in the collegiate basilica dedicated to him, overlooking Piazza San Vittore, the heart of the settlement since remote times: it was precisely in this square that, according to archaeological finds, the borough's Christianisation was completed between the 4th and 5th centuries, attested by an ancient cemetery and a Christian chapel brought to light over the years, as well as Capuchin-style tombs bearing the alpha and omega found on Via Belvedere.
In the 17th century, when plague struck the Milan area again, in 1663 the people of Rho erected right in Piazza San Vittore the Croce della Peste (Plague Cross), moved in 1928 next to the parish church and returned to its original site seventy years later. Today Rho is marked by heavy industrial density and hosts Milan's exhibition district, home to the new Fieramilano pavilions, which, together with the Lombard capital, hosted Expo 2015. Since 1996 the town has re-enacted every year, in October, the Palio di Rho, in memory of medieval life in Rho and of Giovanni da Raude, who in 1099 was the first crusader to breach the walls of Jerusalem.
