Although it has been characterized in recent centuries as an essentially industrial city, Busto Arsizio counts among its most valuable buildings the numerous monuments of an ecclesiastical nature, testifying to the deep religiosity of its people. Of particular note are the Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Piazza, the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, and the Church of San Michele Arcangelo.
As for civil architecture and industrial archaeology, due to the great economic development at the beginning of the 20th century, a number of villas and several mansions, a good number of which are in Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles, are also worth mentioning.
A key element of Busto Arsizio, as of most Italian and European municipalities, is the square: there are three major squares in the historic center (Santa Maria, San Giovanni and Vittorio Emanuele II) to which can be added the central squares of the two former autonomous municipalities of Borsano and Sacconago. The meadows outside the embankment that surrounded the historic center of Busto Arsizio have in several cases been transformed into squares.
Finally, despite being part of a densely populated area as is the Olona Conurbation and in general the Alto Milanese, there is a consistent presence of parks both just outside the historic center and in the peripheral areas.
Religious architecture
At present, there are twenty-five churches, three cemeteries and several chapels in Busto Arsizio (such as the very large one at the Istituto Maria Immacolata or those at the hospital and the rest home).The former provost of St. John the Baptist, Monsignor Claudio Livetti recognizes them as a sign of "civitas christiana." There is also the baptistery of San Filippo Neri (next to the parish church of San Giovanni) and several votive shrines.
In the course of history, many churches have been torn down to be later rebuilt with greater capacity. Other churches, on the other hand, have been permanently demolished: among them, in addition to the medieval ruins of Santa Croce, deconsecrated in 1948 and demolished in 1972,Ferrario speaks of this oratory with the following words, "beautiful with sacred paintings." the Borsanese church of Santa Maria dei Restagni, the Sinaghina church of San Donato and the church of Sant'Eurosia in Cascina Brughetto (demolished in 1952).
In the case of Sacconago, the construction of the new church(1928) did not entail the demolition of the 18th-century church, since land belonging to the old cemetery was used for this purpose.
South of Piazza Santa Maria was a monastery of the Humiliati, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. Along today's Via Pozzi there was a more recent monastery of Augustinian nuns, dedicated to St Jerome and founded in the mid 15th century. With an act dated 13 March 1576, Cardinal Borromeo united nuns and property in the first monastery, which was dedicated to both saints.San Carlo per Busto Arsizio. Busto Arsizio per san Carlo. Biblioteca capitolare. 2011.
Some chapels and votive shrines have also been demolished over the years. One example is the small chapel of St. Alò in Vernaschella located between today's Via Silvio Pellico and the now suppressed branch of Via Confalonieri (formerly "Vernaschella"). Others, however, still exist, such as the aedicule of St. Charles Borromeo. The same fate befell the chapel of St Ambrose in Canton Santo, not far from the church of Santa Maria di Piazza.
Churches
Some of the churches in Busto Arsizio, in particular St John the Baptist, St Michael Archangel and St Mary of Piazza, were built before the year 1000. During the communal period, the first rectories, later called parishes, were founded. They entailed the presence of a priest to whom the care of souls was entrusted and who generally resided in a pre-existing church. Busto Arsizio was subject to the parish church of Olgiate Olona, but the community, on the basis of its growing financial resources, set up five 'curate benefices' between the 13th and 16th centuries: three at the church of San Giovanni Battista and two at that of San Michele Arcangelo, while the church of Santa Maria, located in the central square of the village, was a sanctuary, without parish duties.
In 1583, St Charles Borromeo transferred the ecclesiastical dignities of the parish (i.e. the district) to Busto Arsizio, In the same year, as stated on the same page of the cited book, the last of the seven towers of medieval Busto ruined. and the curates of St John and St Michael were elevated to the rank of canons, as coadjutors of the provost in the care of souls (Busto Arsizio was therefore formally considered a single parish).
In the 17th century a new religious fervour led to the construction of new churches, such as St Gregory in Camposanto (1632), Madonna in Veroncora (1639) and St Bernardino (1665), as well as the reconstruction of the churches of St John the Baptist (1609) and St Michael Archangel (1652). The 18th century saw the construction of Madonna in Campagna (1702), San Rocco (1706), the old church of Sacconago (1708), the church of St Anne (1710, later the Civic Temple), and the church of St Anthony of Padua (1717, in the Borsano area).
Busto remained a single parish until 1906, when San Michele was also given this function.. Later, in 1928, Borsano and Sacconago were annexed to the municipality, bringing the number of parishes to four. In the course of the 20th century, the other parishes were then formed until they reached the current number of thirteen. This was the century in which the most churches were built (as many as eleven, to which can be added that of the Friars Minor, actually started in 1898, but completed during that century).
Monumental Cemetery
The Monumental Cemetery is one of three cemeteries that currently exist in the Busto Arsizio area, in addition to the cemeteries of Sacconago and Borsano. It is located at the beginning of Via Favana, a road named after a farmstead on its route.
At the end of the 19th century, the previous cemetery, located just outside the inhabited area, on the land now occupied by the "Ugo Foscolo" park, which had become too small, was replaced by a new and more spacious one, designed by the engineer Ercole Seves on the model of Carlo Maciachini's cemetery in Milan and inaugurated in 1894,. in a place then far from the inhabited area, at the crossroads between the Via per Lonate and Via Corbetta.
One of the most significant buildings is the Ottolini family mausoleum, designed by architect Camillo Crespi Balbi.
Over the years, the cemetery underwent several expansions, until it covered an area approximately double that of the original one. In the meantime, the city has also grown and the new district built around the church of Santa Maria Regina has surrounded the area.
Cemetery of Sacconago
Towards the middle of the 18th century, when the old cemetery next to the old parish church of St Apostles Peter and Paul became inadequate, a new cemetery was built outside the historic core of the former municipality of Sacconago, in the area where the new parish church has stood since 1928.
At the end of the 19th century, it was decided to move the cemetery again to an area south-west of the town centre, on Via Bienate, which connects Sacconago with the former autonomous municipality of Bienate. The new cemetery was designed by engineer Ercole Seves in 1898, who had already designed the Monumental Cemetery of Busto Arsizio a few years earlier. The first burial took place in 1908. Over the years, works were carried out to obtain an increasing number of available burial niches.
Given its location in the countryside between the town centre and the new industrial area, the Sacconago cemetery is, among the three current town cemeteries, the one that most easily allows future extensions. Some of the surrounding land is already owned by the municipality.
Cemetery of Borsano
The Borsano cemetery is one of three cemeteries in the city of Busto Arsizio, and is the smallest in size. It was probably built following the Napoleonic edict of 1804, which prohibited burials in built-up areas. Previously, parish priests, priests and important families were buried in the nave of the parish church. The other inhabitants of Borsano were buried in the adjacent cemetery.
The new cemetery was built in the vicinity of the parish church, near the country church of Santa Maria dei Restagni, demolished in 1954. Following the 1928 expansion, the area almost doubled. The cemetery was further extended eastwards, but not northwards, due to disputes over minimum distances from houses. Also for this reason, an area would soon be decommissioned.
On either side of the cemetery entrance, on the inner side of the fence, are the tombstones of Ermenegilda ('Gilda') Rossi (a schoolteacher in Borsano from 1858, whose plaque bears the following inscription: "with 40 years of teaching, she spread with wise care and maternal affection the threefold love of God to Family and Country") and of Giuseppe Usuelli (born in Menzago or Vanzago around 1826 and died in Borsano in 1894, who named his universal heirs the Stelline, the orphans of Milan, who bring him a bouquet of flowers every year on the anniversary of the deceased).
In June 2008, the wide space in front of the main entrance was dedicated to Don Alessandro Bossi, a former parish priest, entrepreneur and writer. In 2017, the new entrance was built.
Votive chapels and shrines
Existing chapels in the area include the 18th-century one dedicated to the Madonna di Caravaggio at the junction between Via Quintino Sella and Viale della Repubblica (in which there are two canvases by Carlo Farioli from 1992 depicting the Blessed Bernardino and Giuliana from Busto) and the 19th-century one of Santa Maria Nascente in Via Daniele Crespi, near Piazza Trento e Trieste. The latter was originally a rural aedicule located in what is now the square. It was then demolished in 1802 to make way for via Daniele Crespi. It was rebuilt two years later, and in the years between 1862 and 1864 it was moved to its current position and then incorporated into the palace that was built around it.. In the fresco on the wall there is a depiction of the plague, surmounted by the figure of the Virgin Mary. On the left accompanies her the pilgrim Saint Roch and on the right is Saint Sebastian.
Among the chapels that have disappeared is the chapel of St. Alò in Vernaschella, the name of which, according to some, refers to St. Aegidius, a French bishop who lived between 590 and 660, and according to others to St. Anathalon, the first Ambrosian bishop. The building stood in the middle of the crossroads between today's Via Silvio Pellico (formerly 'Vernasca') and the now suppressed branch of today's Via Confalonieri (formerly 'Vernaschella'). The chapel, the first written records of which date back to 1630, was demolished in 1914 with the promise to build another one at the crossroads of via Silvio Pellico and via Piombina (today via Venegoni), but the project was never implemented. The same fate befell the chapel of St Ambrose in Canton Santo.
Among the votive shrines still existing in Busto Arsizio, mention can be made of the 17th-century one of San Carlo Borromeo in Via Matteotti and the 18th-century one of the Madonna in Via Matteotti (corner of Via Ariberto), restored in 1990, with a painting by Biagio Bellotti.
Villas and palaces
In Busto Arsizio there are Art Nouveau villas, palaces, and remnants of industrial structures built on the edge of the historic center during the period of industrial development. Two of the most important villas are the Ottolini-Tosi and Ottolini-Tovaglieri, in neo-medieval style, located near one of the buildings of the former Busto Arsizio Cotton Mill (now the Museum of Textiles and Industrial Tradition of Busto Arsizio), both designed by architect Camillo Crespi Balbi.