The history of Busto Arsizio, according to the hypotheses advanced by some historians and later re-proposed by local history scholars, would have seen its beginnings with the Ligurians. The later presence of the Romans, mentioned by many authors, is shown by the town's urban distribution.Known in the early Middle Ages for the tanning of hides, the first mention of the city dates from 1053, when the name Bvsti is mentioned on a plaque located in the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan.By decree of Cardinal Charles Borromeo, on April 4, 1583, Busto Arsizio, then under the rule of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti, was detached from the Vicariate of Seprio and placed at the head of what until then had been the Parish of Olgiate Olona. From that time it thus had its own podestà. The origins of the activity that made the town a major textile center date back to the Middle Ages: in 1375 "one can hear a loom in almost every house," as testified a few centuries later by historian Pietro Antonio Crespi Castoldi in his history of Busto Arsizio (De Oppido Busti Relationes).In the second half of the nineteenth century the development of the town outside the defensive walls began, along the strà Balon (present-day Corso XX Settembre) and the Garottola road (present-day Via Mameli). On October 30, 1864, Busto Arsizio was granted the title of city in the Kingdom of Italy. Due to the intense activity of the entrepreneur Enrico dell'Acqua, it acquired the dual profile of cotton and mechanical town in the late nineteenth century, thus securing its economic well-being. Many entrepreneurs built their villas in the style in vogue in the early twentieth century, Art Nouveau, still an important part of Busto's architectural heritage. Beginning in 1928, the city's history became intertwined with that of two other former municipalities, Sacconago and Borsano, which became neighborhoods. Today Busto Arsizio is a modern industrial and commercial center of more than 83,000 inhabitants, located in one of the most industrialized areas in Europe, the Alto Milanese.