VARENNA, Villa Monastero

Villa Monastero, as the name suggests, was originally a religious building, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, built around 1200 and active until the mid-16th century.

In 1569, the property was bought by the Mornico family who transformed it into a splendid villa. From the period of the Mornico family’s ownership until 1862, only the original layout of the building and some interior decorations have been preserved.

The current appearance of Villa Monastero is mainly related to the penultimate owner, the German Walter Erich Jacob Kees from Leipzig, who completely renovated the villa in an eclectic style in the early 20th century. He also considerably enlarged the garden, which today stretches about two kilometers along the lake shore. Inside, he had the great marble staircase built, modelled on the one in the library in Leipzig, his hometown, and had each room decorated in a different style.

If you can visit this jewel today, it is thanks to the generosity of the last owners, the De Marchi family, who donated the villa to the Italian State in 1936 to make it a museum and study center. Rosa Curioni, the wife, even donated some of her clothes, now on display upstairs.

In addition to the 14 marvelous rooms open to the public, embellished with frescoes, tapestries, period furniture and furnishings, Villa Monastero houses an internationally renowned scientific conference center. In fact, the Italian Physical Society organizes courses of the Enrico Fermi International School of Physics here every year in the summer, named after the Italian Nobel Prize winner who gave some lectures here in 1954.

The real highlight of the villa is the magnificent garden with sculptures, water features, small temples, stone and wrought-iron balustrades and, above all, hundreds of different species of plants and flowers that populate this corner of paradise: cypresses, exotic palms, citrus trees, ferns, English roses and even a banana tree that bears fruit every year!

Here's an interesting fact: Marco De Marchi, a graduate in natural sciences, was among the first in Italy to devote himself to the study of hydrobiology. When he died, he left Villa Monastero and Villa Pallanza on Lake Maggiore to the State to become centers of study in this field. Thanks to his bequests, the Italian Institute of Hydrobiology named after him was founded in 1938 and has been part of the Center for National Research since 1977.