Every design for Seregno

Look north from Seregno and the Prealps fill the horizon: the Grigna, the Grignetta and the Resegone, rising beyond the first moraine hills of Brianza. The town itself lies on the upper Lombard plain, a short way from Monza and not much further from Milan, with the lakes, the Alps and the cities of Como, Lecco and Bergamo all within easy reach.

The Torre Civica is one landmark in a centre that also holds Saint Joseph's Basilica, the Odescalchi Villa and the Landriani Caponaghi Palace, now the town hall. There is no river of its own: the Lambro and the Seveso flow through neighbouring towns, and the built-up area runs on without a break into Desio, Lissone and Meda. The green that survives is mostly protected land at the edges, the Parco GruBrìa, along with the Parco 2 Giugno alla Porada. Around it all works one of Italy's most productive areas, crowded with small and medium firms in furniture, engineering, clothing and computing, and with an unusual number of bank branches for its size. Since 1959 the town has also hosted the Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition, one of the oldest of its kind in the world.

Put the Torre Civica on your shirt and you carry a busy Brianza town that still keeps the mountains in sight.