Gallarate

Gallarate is a city and comune of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 53,000. Its name comes from the Latin language, in fact a lot of cities around it have the same root "rate", such as Casorate Sempione, Samarate, etc.It is the junction of railways to Varese, Laveno and Arona . Some 10km to the west are the electric works of Vizzola, where 23,000 hp are derived from the river Ticino. Its territory is crossed by the river Arnetta, and belongs to the Ticino River Natural Park.The city in the first part of the 19th century had a strong textile industry.HistoryFounded by the Gauls and later conquered by the Romans, Gallarate was mentioned as an important vicus or village in documents dating back to the Roman conquest of what was then called Gallia Cisalpina. After the Carolingian conquet of northern-central Italy, a castle was erected upon the remains of the original Roman fortifications located beside the still existing Basilica of Santa Maria. The castle has disappeared, but its ancient location is identified through the city’s topography and by the street name Via Postcastello.