Parco GruBrìa is a local park of supra-municipal interest created on 19 December 2019 by merging two parks in Brianza and the area north of Milan: the Parco Grugnotorto Villoresi, set up in 1999 on about 1850 hectares of farmland between Paderno Dugnano, Nova Milanese, Varedo and other towns, and the Parco della Brianza Centrale, created by the town of Seregno in 2001 on about 400 hectares around the town. The aim was to save the last open land in one of the most built-up areas of Europe. Since 1 January 2026 Cinisello Balsamo has left the consortium that runs the park.
What to see
The southern part of the park is crossed by the Villoresi canal, built at the end of the nineteenth century to irrigate the fields, which can be followed along its towpaths. Between Varedo and Desio survives the Bosco Bello, the only historic wood, a source of firewood until the mid-twentieth century and since enlarged with new planting; at Varedo are Villa Bagatti Valsecchi and the viale Bagatti, almost a kilometre long. Some farmsteads still work among the cultivated fields.
Around Seregno are the Parco 2 giugno, in the Porada district, with cycle and footpaths, allotments, fields and copses where the long-eared owl has been seen, and the Meredo area, a farm park with a large solitary English oak.
Visiting
A network of cycle, foot and country paths links the park's sights and the railway stations of Varedo, Palazzolo Milanese, Paderno Dugnano, Cusano-Cormano, Desio and Seregno. Maps and events are on the park's website.
Our editors' tip
The name Grugnotorto is old, already in the Theresian land register of 1722: it may come from the Latin grumus, a mound of earth, and tortus, bent, though locally some derive it from the Lombard grand òrt, big vegetable garden. The park's symbol is a hedgehog drawn on an oak leaf.
