Culturally and militarily linked to the Duchy of Milan in the Renaissance, shaped in its palaces by the Habsburg domination that lasted until 1859, Varese was the first city in Italy to ask to be annexed to the newborn Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Strengthened by its drive, between the 19th and 20th centuries, Varese was turned into a famous tourist destination throughout Europe and became known as the Garden City for its many public and private parks.
It is precisely from here that our weekend symbolically begins: with a walk to Palazzo Estense, now the seat of the Municipality, built by Francesco III d’Este, lord of Varese from 1765 to 1780 by order of the Austrian kingdom, who surrounds it with a huge Italian-style park designed in the image and likeness of the Schönbrunn imperial palace in Vienna.

The appearance of the village arranged all around the church is singular. The mountains are grandiose. Magnificent together: at sunset, we saw seven lakes.

(Stendhal, on Varese and the Sacred Mount)

From here you continue towards the city center, walking along its main streets, and perhaps stopping for a break in one of its historic cafes: Pasticceria Ghezzi, in the central Corso Matteotti, opened in 1919 and still managed by the same family that founded it.

For lunch, you can opt for the Vecchia Trattoria della Pesa, located a short distance away, of the De Lodovici family, well known for the more famous Da Annetta in Capolago, a guarantee of good food and hospitality since 1928.

After lunch, you can stroll to Villa Panza: an eighteenth-century residence that houses one of the world’s largest collections of post-war American art, created by Giuseppe and Rosa Giovanna Panza di Biumo and donated to the FAI in 1996.

At Villa Panza, you can spend an entire day immersed in art and nature. In addition to the interior, there are 33,000 square meters of parkland enriched with Land Art works and the Luce Restaurant, just perfect after the tour of the many rooms.

And if you want a truly special place for dinner, you can book at Crotto Valtellina in Malnate, about 15 minutes from the center of Varese. The restaurant, nestled between a scenic sandstone cave and a romantic flower-filled dehors, is the perfect synthesis of tradition and innovation orchestrated by chef Roberto Valbuzzi, third generation of the family, originally from Valtellina, at the helm of the restaurant since the 1970s.

With the idea of ​​waking up “with a view”, after dinner you can go up to the Sacro Monte di Varese. A place of worship since the dawn of time, its sacredness is linked to the victory of Saint Ambrose, then bishop of Milan, over the followers of Arianism imported from beyond the Alps by the Germanic peoples. In the 16th century, it was the bishop of Milan Carlo Borromeo who gave a strong push to the creation of the “sacred mountains”, with the idea of ​​offering a pilgrimage destination for those who could not go to the Holy Land, and, thus, the construction of the Sacred Mount of Varese was completed in 1623.

Belonging to the group of the 9 Sacred Mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy included in 2003 by UNESCO in the world heritage sites of humanity, it presents itself today as a path of about 2 kilometers through 14 chapels that lead to the Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Monte which serves as the fifteenth chapel.

There is nothing luxurious or designer at Sacro Monte, on the contrary. The atmospheres are decidedly “faded”, but the sacred aura, the peace, and the silent beauty of nature all around makes it one of the most unusually magical places in Lombardy (but not for everyone!).

To fully experience these vibes, the right address is a legend of Varese: the Borducan, an Art Nouveau inn that takes its name from the drink created by its founder, opened in 1924 and remained absolutely identical since then (you can book one of the rooms with a view of Lake Varese).

As if on a journey through time, as soon as you enter you feel catapulted into the world of Davide Bregonzio who around 1860 invented the Elixir al Borducan, a liqueur based on oranges and a mixture of mountain herbs that he created, after joining Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand, between Sicily and Algeria (“borducan” was more or less the sound of the word for sweet orange in Arabic).

Still owned by the descendants of the Bregonzio family, the Bianchi family, the Borducan is now managed by Riccardo Santinon who has come up with quite a few events to celebrate the hotel’s first 100 years, which fall this year.

Inebriated by Elixir, it’s time to visit the Sanctuary, climbing to the top of the Sacro Monte, and above all, a little further down, visit one of the most unusual and extraordinary house museums in the world, the one that belonged to Lodovico Pogliaghi.

The “Wunderhaus”, with its alabaster windows, Ming vases and Egyptian sarcophagi, is the incredible creative testament of one of the greatest Italian decorative artists, which has reached us practically intact thanks to the legacy, when he was still alive, to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana which has become its custodian.

Pogliaghi had, in fact, fallen in love with the Sacro Monte while working on the restoration of the chapels and the sanctuary and, starting in 1885, he purchased a series of lands to undertake the construction of his house right there, dedicating himself with great dedication to the project throughout his life.

To help you understand the exceptional nature of the place, it is enough to mention that Pogliaghi built a room to house the 1:1 scale plaster cast of the central door of the Milan Cathedral that he created, as well as a room inspired by the Pantheon in Rome to house his collection of classical art including a marble statue of Dionysus-Apollo, dating back to the first half of the 2nd century AD.

A place so rich in decorations and unique objects that it is truly worth a trip.

Our itinerary, for the Belle Époque fans, ends at the legendary Grand Hotel Excelsior in Casbeno (pictured is a poster from the Salce Collection of Treviso), now a district of Varese, inaugurated in 1874, and for years the symbol of its Dolce Vita. One of the most famous hotels in Italy, frequented by the European elite, unfortunately, it closed in 1927 following the decline in tourism after the First World War and in 1931 it was purchased by the Province of Varese, of which it is now the headquarters.

Here, not far away, there is La Vinothèque, a small bistro born from the passion for the territory and its culinary traditions of the host chef Giorgio Nascimbene. There could not have been a better conclusion, in the company of excellent wines and bohemian atmospheres, for our weekend in Varese.

The Secret

The Missoni fashion brand has dedicated its F/W 2020 campaign to the Sacro Monte. The company was founded in the province of Varese, in Albusciago di Sumirago, where the beautiful Missoni Archive is now kept, which can also be consulted entirely online. Angela Missoni herself described the essence of the place splendidly in an interview: “Santa Maria del Monte is a romantic place (…) where you can admire the rising sun and the beautiful views from the terraces, which extend towards distant panoramas”.