The Visconti Castle in Cusago was built in the 14th century by Bernabò Visconti and used as a hunting lodge by the Visconti family, lords and dukes of Milan. The castle underwent significant changes in the Renaissance period. Today it is in a state of abandonment.
The castle of Cusago had been attended since 1369 by the court of Bernabò Visconti and after his removal from power in 1385 by his nephew Gian Galeazzo. Between 1425 and 1440 the Duke Filippo Maria Visconti devoted great attention to the castle and to the surrounding park. His mistress Agnese del Maino lived occasionally there. In 1438 a little canal (the naviglietto) was excavated to connect the castle to the nearby Naviglio Grande.
During the Ambrosian Republic (1447-1450) part of the buildings were demolished. The function of the castle as a country villa for hunting and parties was restored by Ludovico il Moro. In 1496 he hosted the emperor Maximilian I.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.