Zerbolò

At Zerbolò the white storks have stopped migrating. There is a resident colony, steady for years at around a dozen pairs, and the nests can be seen from the village: at the entrance coming from Gropello Cairoli or from Bereguardo, and above all in the area of Cascina Venara. Since the stork is a gregarious bird, the presence of the colony persuades wild birds on migration to stop here too — and in most cases to nest and breed.

The village itself grew up around a castle: in 1259 the Beccaria built one by the Ticino, and around it Zerbolate took shape, today's Zerbolò. The present comune was put together a piece at a time: Sedone was joined in the Napoleonic age, in 1806, and in 1815 came Parasacco, Guasta, Marzo, Limido and Campomaggiore, which then went off to Carbonara al Ticino in 1866. Parasacco had been a fief in its own right, of the Visconti marquesses of Parona; Limido, known as Limide since the thirteenth century, belonged to the Eustachi of Pavia. Today the built-up area is cut in two by the Milan-Genoa motorway.