Milan – The legend of the bandit of Morivione

The village of Morivione is an area located in the south of Milan, at the entrance of Via dei Fontanili and Via Verro, where there is now the intersection with Via Bazzi.

The name of Morivione is due to a legend, probably true. It seems that at the time of Luchino Visconti, the area was infested with brigands, soldiers of fortune who were once part of the Company of San Giorgio, dispersed after the battle of Parabiago, at the head of which was placed Vione Squilletti. It is said that he used a deafening whistle to attack the enemy (hence Squilletti) and that he had married a certain Esmeraldina Bossi.

On the eve of the feast of St. George, the Milanese, who were tired of the actions of bandits, went to their lord asking him to free them from these scoundrels. He granted their request and the following day he gave battle to the group of thugs that besieged the place. Vione, captured, was killed on April 24, 1339. The next day the population went to the place of the battle and offered to the winners fresh milk, eggs and cream.

In the meantime, on a wall would have been painted St. George killing the dragon, with an inscription: “Here Vione died”.

Another variant of the legend, less accredited, narrates that the criminal was called Alessandro Vione and that he was an ex-soldier in the service of the Sforza family, turned into a thief and here found and stabbed to death at the foot of a wisteria by the Sforza’s guards. In fact in the village there is an ancient wisteria plant.

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