Legend has it that in 1150, the Milan bakery of the Quattro Marie Christian confraternity offered the needy bread and flour in exchange for copper coins depicting the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome and Mary of Cleophas. Then the image of the Blessed Virgin was separated from the three minor Marys and they became the current shingle. In 1896 the legendary bakery turned into the elegant Tre Marie patisserie, whose speciality was panettone. Its more recent history began in the 1960s, when the owners sent 150 letters to the best pastry shops in Italy, inviting them to be exclusive agents for their area, driving a relaunch. From the 1970s to the present, production has added ice cream and other desserts. The artisanal skills of bygone times survive in the pastry specialities and leavened products that preserve the flavour and fragrance of pastries of yesteryear. In 2013 Galbusera Spa bought the Tre Marie Ricorrenze company, owner of the Tre Marie brands for celebration products, biscuits, crackers and ready-made cakes.
