Villa Mylius - Vigoni

Villa Mylius Vigoni in Menaggio

There are places which are seemingly isolated from normal traffic, chosen for being protected and private, where the passing of time seems to have stopped in which is conserved the memory of historical figures and their works. Art monuments which are of such unpredictable importance and beauty to stupefy even he who can't imagine that Menaggio and all of lake Como being a chest of extraordinary and unique treasures, to be discovered and admired, each time the occasion presents itself.

And so it happened for Loveno above Menaggio, a residential area where we find prestigious testimonies of art conserved in the parochial church of Saint Stefano, from the 18 th -century façade, to the internal 16 th and 17 th -century paintings, among which a couple of frescoes by Bernardo Luini (the Madonna with Jesus and an Angel), the original was given over to the French in exchange for the transfer of the prefecture from Tremezzo to Menaggio.

Immersed in the town, stand out both Villa Massimo d'Azeglio, holding frescoes by the same, who is usually remembered as a patriot and writer of the Risorgimento and, above all Villa Mylius - Vigoni, the garden of which was designed around the middle of the 19 th century, by Giuseppe Balzaretto, architect from Pavia whose genial work were of help to the illustrious families and people of Milan for their holiday stays, from Varese to the lakes of Lugano and Como.

Of extraordinary beauty is the park, inside of which is found a small temple with neo-classical sculptures and works of art by Bertel Thorvaldsen and by Pompeo Marchesi. The residential complex Villa Mylius - Vigoni and Villa Garovaglio - Rizzi are now the property of the German Federal Republic, which has made it into a cultural centre.