Monte Stella, Milan

Monte Stella is an artificial hill surrounded by a city park, built within Milan’s QT8 district. Its mass contains debris from buildings destroyed by World War II bombing, along with remnants of the city’s Spanish walls. The park was created in the 1950s and covers 370,000 m2.

Piero Bottoni designed the hill and dedicated it to his wife, Stella. The mound rises 45 m, although the original plan called for twice that height; the design was reduced because pressure from the earth could have harmed buildings on Via Isernia. From the summit, the park gives you a broad view across Milan and its hinterland, with the Alps and Apennines visible when conditions are clear. The Giardino dei Giusti adds a memorial dimension: each tree honours a person who opposed genocide or crimes against humanity, including Moshe Bejski and Andrej Sakharov.