Vimercate

Vimercate (Italian: [vimerˈkaːte]; Brianzöö: Vimercaa, Lombard: [ʋimerˈkaː]) is a comune (municipality) in the province of Monza and Brianza, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Milan and 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Monza. Its name (whose first finding dates back to the year 745) derives from the Latin Vicus Mercati, which later became Vicus Mercatum and then Vimercato, the ancient form of Vimercate, used up until the 19th century. It means "market village", since Vimercate was an active trade center. The city was founded by the Romans on the banks of the river Molgora, and it originally was a Roman castrum (a military camp). The ancient castrum was destroyed in the Middle Ages during the various invasions of the Italian peninsula. Yet, given that since the Roman age the city has kept on growing and evolving, several monuments and artifacts have been built over the course of history and are present to these days, starting from the ancient San Rocco Bridge, originally built by the Romans in the 3rd century, to the Collegiate church of Saint Stephen, consecrated in 1272, and the more recent Villa Gallarati Scotti of the 17th century. In 1950 Vimercate received the title of "Città" and in 2009 the city was awarded with the "Medaglia d’argento al merito civile" for the role played during the resistance against Fascism.