Imagine opening the front door of your house, in the frenetic and concreted metropolitan area of Milan, and finding yourself face to face with a fan of iridescent blue and green feathers. This is not an illusion, but the extraordinary daily reality of Quinto Romano, a neighborhood on the western outskirts of Milan that has managed to build a unique coexistence in Italy.
While in other locations, such as Punta Marina in Romagna, the presence of these birds sparks furious controversies and historic legal clashes, in the shadow of the Madonnina the local community has chosen the path of integration, transforming over thirty free peacocks into real neighbors.
Between neighborhood legends and an official cat lady
The genesis of this bizarre colony is suspended between metropolitan myth and popular tales. The residents’ theories are divided: there are those who attribute the credit to a florist in the area who, having initially owned two permanent specimens, attracted the others; others instead indicate as the starting point one of the ancient Milanese farmhouses that line the area, from which the founders apparently fled years ago.
Beyond the historical roots, today the management of the colony is structured and recognized. A historic cat lady in the area has in fact been officially authorized by the Municipality to take care of their feeding, although the animals have demonstrated perfect self-sufficiency by moving between the houses and taking advantage of the vast green spaces offered by the nearby Parco delle Cave.
The show at school and life on the sidewalks
The perimeter preferred by the majestic birds is concentrated in particular in the area between via Fantasio Piccoli and via Airaghi. The Marco Polo nursery school is located right here, where the educational garden has become the ideal stage for their spectacular fan wheels, giving amazement and joy to the children of the structure.
The sightings do not spare the condominium roofs, the entrance halls of the buildings and even the disabled center of the neighborhood, where guests derive great benefit and company from the visits of the birds. Obviously there is no shortage of small logistical inconveniences linked to cleaning the courtyards and pavements of excrement, but the community accepts this natural compromise in the name of an urban ecosystem that brings color and breaks the gray routine of the suburbs.
@San Siro & surroundings – Ippodromi Stadium/Facebook
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