Villa Monastero

Villa Monastero in Varenna, owned by the Province of Lecco , represents one of the most interesting examples of an eclectic style residence from the late nineteenth century. Overlooking the eastern branch of Lake Como and surrounded by a botanical garden of great scenic impact, it is one of the main attractions of the area due to its strategic position and the different services provided by the complex. Appreciated by the public, it welcomed 209,337 visitors in 2022.

The Villa was born from the transformation of an ancient female monastery of Cistercian foundation dedicated to the Virgin Mary, built at the end of the 12th century through filiation of that of Acquafredda, in nearby Lenno. In the mid-sixteenth century it was purchased by the Mornico family, who held the property for more than three centuries and made it known on the Lario as "Villa Leliana". Subsequently passed to other owners, including Carolina Blondel Maumari (niece of Enrichetta Blondel, first wife of the writer Alessandro Manzoni) and Walter Kees who gave it its current eclectic appearance, in 1939 it was donated by the Milanese De Marchi family so that it could become a public good and home to a museum.

Today it presents itself as a House Museum with an exhibition itinerary of 14 fully furnished rooms that have maintained original decorations and furniture, which obtained museum recognition from the Lombardy Region in 2004.

The Botanical Garden , which extends for almost 2 km along the lake front, is rich in particular and rare botanical species. The essences exceeded 900 specimens, with various species of palms, citrus fruits, cedars, cypresses, magnolias and collections of hydrangeas, roses, wisteria and jasmine, which together with the usual Mediterranean flora characterize it for its particular and unique appearance. Inserted in the one hundred most beautiful gardens in Italy, it has also achieved important regional recognition as a national museum. Thanks to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (2022), it is the subject of an important valorisation and redevelopment intervention which will make it even more evocative and which aims to re-establish stylistic and botanical coherence, to guarantee the efficiency of the systems for sustainable renovation the virtuous relationship between vegetal, environmental and architectural components that has shaped the uniqueness of Villa Monastero over time. The vegetation heritage is brought back to the original design and proportions through careful work to enrich the botanical collections and improve cultivation conditions. The visit to the Villa is also enriched through multimedia and interactive itineraries, with a revisiting of the botanical and museum collections and a specific in-depth analysis of the monastic period, from which the name of the residence derives.

Villa Monastero also has a Conference Centre , known internationally also for the courses of the Italian School of Physics, which saw the presence of Enrico Fermi in 1954 (the main room, former church of the Cistercian monastery, is named after him) and the succession of more than sixty Nobel Prize winners. Today it offers institutions, universities and companies the opportunity to hold conferences, seminars, training courses and workshops in an evocative setting rich in history.

The exhibition space is used to host temporary exhibitions of painting, sculpture, photography and art objects.

The context of the Villa is also ideal for educational activities which are divided into courses, in-depth workshops and recreational activities dedicated to school groups and families.

Villa Monastero, due to its suggestive position and enchanting atmosphere, is today one of the most sought-after places for events and the perfect home for the celebration of weddings or as a photographic set for personal shootings for prestigious Italian and foreign fashion magazines.

Villa Monastero is part of the Museum System of the province of Lecco , a reality that hosts 51 museums and cultural assets located in the Lecco area, with artistic, historical, architectural and landscape assets that characterize and embellish it: extraordinary places, today proposed and enhanced through 10 routes called SIMPLe Ways, which reveal 78 stimulating destinations for those who want to immerse themselves in an environment of rare natural beauty in which traces of the local cultural heritage are still preserved.