Before being annexed to Milan, it has been an autonomous comune, originally known as Garegnano Marcido.

The main street of the area is Viale Certosa (named after the Charterhouse, "Certosa" in Italian), which crosses the district from south-east to north-west, passing nearby the Charterhouse and ending up to the Cimitero Maggiore, Milan's largest cemetery.

Viale Certosa is an important thoroughfare for Milanese traffic, as it is one of the access points to the Tangenziale ring road and to the motorways.

The borgo of "Garegnano Marcido" dates back at least to the Middle Ages.

During Napoleonic rule it was briefly annexed to Milan (1809-1816), but regained its autonomy with the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.