Sumirago

Notarial deeds of the twelfth century call the place Salmoirago, or Salmorago, and the surname Salmoiraghi comes from that toponym. Its meaning is guesswork: the name has been traced to the Gaulish personal name Solimariacum, explained as a derivative of the Latin Samerius, later adapted into Salmerius, or put down to the nickname of a forebear who salted meat or fish. Sumirago always belonged to Milanese territory, within the pieve of Somma.

In 1809 it was Sumirago that vanished, absorbed by Caidate, which two years later was itself swallowed by Albizzate; then the roles reversed, and in 1869 Albusciago, Caidate, Menzago and Quinzano San Pietro were joined to Sumirago. Hence the five blue towers of the coat of arms, on five green hills under a wheel — described as a ship's helm, more probably a mill wheel — one for the main town and one for each hamlet; hence the five parishes, as many as the old municipi. At Caidate the Visconti castle, later of the Bigli and the Confalonieri, began as a military post over the Arno valley and ended a manor house, its park redesigned by Giuseppe Balzaretto.