Varese, also known as “Città Giardino” (garden city) and the Lake area of Lombardy. In the surroundings of the Garden City there is so much to see and to live in the free time of your holidays. The Lake Maggiore, the villas built in the nineteenth century to be the summer dwellings of the Milan’ s bourgeoisie of the times, the modern art museum in Villa Panza, the Sacro Monte in Varese, the small lakes near Varese: Monate and Comabbio, the archeological sites of the Paleolithic era, the lake of Lugano, the lake of Como and eventually Milano and its museums and monuments.

Villa Panza & Collection
The Monastry of Torba
Sacro Monte of Varese
Lake Maggiore
Rocca d’Angera
Rossi d’Angera
S. Caterina del Sasso
Archeologia

www.fondoambiente.it/en/beni/villa-collection-panza-fai-properties.asp

Surrounded by the green wooden of the Province of Varese, near the archeological park of Castelseprio, the monumental area of Torba witnesses a history of hundreds years ago. It was a military fortress of the late Roman Empire, then was passed to the Goths and to the Longobards (with its tower and the walls dating back to the 5th and 6th century). After this Torba became a religious building where Benedictin communities would pray and work (the remaining of a church dating back to the 8th and 13th can still be found). In 1453 the nuns left the area and the building became a country farm. In the tower there are some old frescoes dating back to the end of the 8th century.

From the park "Campo dei Fiori" you can enjoy a breath-taking view of the Sacro Monte.
Sacro monte of Varese is a devotional complex of 14 Chapels standing on the slopes of the mountain on a path of about 2 kilometers. It is the most fascinating Marian itinerary in the world
We believe that on the path, in about 300 years, about 60 millions of pilgrims have walked

www.illagomaggiore.com

The Rocca, whose structure dates back to the roman times, does not present the typical signs of that period. Its walls were built during the 12th and 13th century.
For a period it was disputed between the Torriani and the Visconti families and several changes were made to the structure. In 1277, after the Desio victory it became property of the Milano Archbischop, then passed to the Visconti and eventually to the Borromeo family in the 1449. The Rocca still belongs to this family. From the top of the tower you can enjoy a suggesting and unique view.

The company Rossi d’Angera has been producing grappa on the Lake Maggiore, since 1847 and has been led since then by the same Rossi family.

Standing on a rocky slope over one of the deepest parts of the Lake Maggiore, the Eremo is a monastic complex of three buildings dating back to the 13th and 14th century. It was funded by Alberto Besozzi from Arolo, who made a vow to Saint Catherine from Alessandria when, after a shipwreck, he retired to a life of hermit. During the plague in 1195 the first part of the building was settled.
In the 14th century it hosted a community of Augustinian monks, after them, in 1379 the Romiti Ambrosiani lived there, follone by the Carmelitani in 1649
Since 1970 the Eremo is owned by the Province of Varese.
Inside and outside the walls of the Church there are several paintings and frescoes that date back to different art periods from 14th to 19th century. Art and history are perfectly integrated in a suggestive scenario, like a balcony over the Borromeo Islands.
The Eremo can be reached from the spacious parking nearby.

The entire province of Varese is characterized by luxuriant hills and valleys with rivers and lakes..as well as for its position, a bridge between the Alpi chain and the big Padana plain.
This status of border land and transit junction has always conditioned the life of the population of the area, becoming throughout the centuries an essential resource and means of development.
Its archaeological sites, positioned in suggestive areas and sometimes in natural reserves, become very interesting and permit to discover peculiar historical and territorial dynamics.
An overview of the history and archeology of the area is exposed in the numerous collection of the museums that explain with reconstructions the use and costumes of the population throughout the different millenniums.