ART HOTEL - VARESE CITY CENTER

ART HOTEL – VARESE CITY CENTER

5 km - 1 hour - easy

An interesting itinerary along Varese's main and most characteristic streets

Having left the grounds of the Varese ArtHotel we encounter Viale Aguggiari and, to our right, are faced with the unmistakable profile of the Campo dei Fiori Massif, with the village of Santa Maria del Monte and the seventeenth-century Sacred Way, UNESCO heritage site. This view will accompany us throughout the entire route.

We reach the town center after a pleasant downhill stretch, cycling in Via Veratti. Having reached the piantone, Varese’s landmark tree, we delve into the heart of the city: Corso Matteotti and the lively Piazza del Podestà, surrounded by elegant porticoes and semi-hidden private courtyards rich in artistic and cultural heritage.

Just a few more meters and we are in front of the Piazza Monte Grappa roundabout, bustling center of city life (and traffic). A visitor cannot fail to register the stark contrast between the refined architectures around the Corso and the austere linearity characterizing this square, which was built during the Fascist era.

Having crossed Piazza Montegrappa, we take Via Carrobbio, an ancient route leading towards the hill, locally known as the "Motta" where, in Medieval times, a major cattle market was customarily held. We now must pedal on a slight uphill until we come upon the Church of Sant'Antonio alla Motta and, just after it, the entrance to the Public Gardens of Villa Mirabello, a section of the better-known Giardini Estensi, one of the symbols of Varese.

The road up to the hill of Villa Mirabello is a dirt track, but very well kept. The villa itself is a seventeenth-century residence, now housing the Civic Museums, with important collections related to the prehistory and history of Varese. The view over Lake Varese below, and the Alps just behind it, is quite stunning. Nowadays, there being no official separation between the two, the public gardens flow seamlessly into the grounds of Palazzo Estense.

Just before the hill leading down to the palace (seat of the Varese City Hall) it is worth taking a break to admire the view over the city center and the ancient noble palaces, as well as the green foothills of the Alps, just outside the urban area.
The gardens extend below, their flower beds like a colorful carpet, with the monumental fountain and the sixteenth-century palace once inhabited by the Duke of Modena, Francesco the Third d'Este, who loved Varese and its people to the point of taking up residence, and eventually dying, here.

Leaving the Palazzo Estense we turn right, in the direction of Piazza Monte Grappa, next
to which we can access Piazza San Vittore, to visit the Basilica by the same name, full of precious artwork, and the ancient baptistery. We can take some time to examine the buildings and courtyards of this Medieval corner of the town, looking for details that speak of a rich, flourishing past.

Having reached the bottom of Corso Matteotti (we recommend a visit to the ancient Cloister of the Monastery of Sant’Antonino) we leave the town center on Via San Martino and climb (with very little effort) one of the major, most characteristic hilltop settlements around Varese, Biumo Superiore. Here the maze of narrow alleys and private gardens will take us back a couple of centuries. On the highest point of the castellanza, as the villages built around a castle used to be called in Lombardy, we find the Ponti Villas, now housing the Conference Center of the Varese Chamber of Commerce and therefore closed to the general public, and the famous Villa Panza, belonging to the Italian National Trust (FAI) and seat of a major contemporary art museum, a definite must-see.


Retracing our steps for just a few dozen meters, we take Via Castiglioni and from here, after a brief downhill stretch, we make our way back to Viale Aguggiari with its view over the Campo dei Fiori massif. Having turned left, we will find the ArtHotel Varese after a short cycle along the main road.