The story of Porta Cicca

At midnight sharp / it's dark, it's dark / there's the one who hunts for butts — sings an old Milanese song, recalling the ancient trade of the catamoeucc, collectors of cigar and cigarette stubs. They roamed at night before the dustmen came, using a pin on a stick to gather discarded butts (in Milanese cicca, related to cicc, a little piece) to make cheap new cigarettes. They worked near Porta Ticinese, popularly also called Porta Cicca — hence, some say, the name: roughly, Cigarette Gate or Stub Gate.

In old Milanese, however, cica also means drunkenness. We still say ciocch, drunk, ciuca, hammered, cicchetto, a small drink. That area was famous for taverns and drinking dens — another possible origin of Porta Cicca.

Another theory: cica means nothing, worthlessness: Te varet una cica — you're worth nothing. Many poor people lived in that area.

A final theory links Cicca to cica, prostitute (from Spanish chica, girl).

Porta Ticinese

Located in the south-west of the city, it opened towards Pavia (Ticinum in Latin), giving its official name. The medieval Porta Ticinese stands near the Columns of San Lorenzo; nearby in Piazza 24 Maggio is the modern gate by Luigi Cagnola. Stendhal called it: «Beautiful without copying the ancient.»

In summary: Stub Gate, Drunk Gate, Nothing Gate, Prostitute Gate, Old Pavia Gate, New Pavia Gate — and today the liveliest neighbourhood in south Milan, home to our agency since 1996.

At midnight sharp / it's dark, it's dark / there's the one who hunts for butts — translation of the Milanese song.