Busto Arsizio

Busto Arsizio is a town 25 km north of Milan whose economy is mainly based on industry and commerce.

Busto Arsizio origins were in the Ligurians, a population good at working iron and much sought after as mercenary soldiers. The consistent increase in population was helped without doubt by the Gauls from the Insubri tribe, Celtic populations who arrived in successive stages by crossing the Alps at about the middle of the first millennium before Christ. They did nor settle here casually: in fact, the settlement was created on an area on the route from Milan to Lake Maggiore (called "Milan’s road", an alternative route to the existent Sempione), part of which, before the creation of the Naviglio, made use of the navigational water of the river Ticino.