DK Travel : Milan and the Lakes : Architecture

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Sant’Eustorgio, Milan

Ignore the insipid 19th-century façade, for the church behind it is ancient, founded in the 4th century. Beyond the main church and behind the altar is the cappella Portinari. It was designed locally, but so superbly did it embody early Renaissance Florentine ideals that it was for a long time attributed to Brunelleschi or Michelozzo. The chapel’s masterpieces are the 1486 frescoes by Vicenzo Foppa.
Stazione Centrale

Milan’s massive railway station is often considered a remarkable example of Fascist-era architecture, though its design (of 1912) pre-dates this period and owes more to the Liberty style. Finally completed in 1931, the station is caked in gleaming white Aurisina stone and decorated with reliefs, statues and murals too often overlooked.
Torre Velasca

When Nathan Rogers, Lodovico Belgioioso and Enrico Peressutti constructed this brick-red, 106-m (348-ft) tower block in 1956–8, they showcased their post-war engineering talents by extending the top nine floors beyond the lower ones on struts, much like an oversized medieval tower. Unfortunately, the maintenance costs have proved to be horrendous.
Villa Balbianello, Lake Como

Department store mogul and explorer Guido Monzino gave this 1784 villa and its gorgeous gardens to FAI (the Italian National Trust) in 1988. A museum inside chronicles his adventures from Mount Everest to the North Pole. The property pole-vaulted to the front of famous Como sights after appearing in Star Wars: Episode II (see Star Wars Episode II and Villa Balbianello, Lenno).
Villa Carlotta, Lake Como

Lake Como is famous for its extravagant villas, but while some gardens are open, few of the buildings themselves can be visited. At Villa Carlotta, however, you can visit both the late Baroque villa filled with Neo-Classical statues and Romantic paintings, and the extensive, lush gardens (see Villa Carlotta, Tremezzo).
Villa Cipressi, Lake Como

Fancy spending the night at one of Lake Como’s gorgeous villas? The Cipressi is now a hotel, and guests can wander its cypress-shaded gardens, blooming with wisteria, for free (see Villa Cipressi, Varenna and Villa Cipressi, Varenna).
Villa Melzi, Lake Como

Francesco Melzi, the Vice-President of Napoleon’s Cisalpine Republic, had this Neo-Classical villa built on Bellagio’s southern edge. The villa is off-limits, but you can wander the gardens to the water’s edge, visit a small museum (Etruscan, Egyptian and Roman artifacts) and see a mock Moorish temple that inspired a pair of Liszt piano concertos, written during the composer’s stay here (see Villa Melzi, Bellagio).
Villa Monastero, Lake Como

The original structure was not really a monastery, but a Cistercian convent founded in 1208. It was disbanded by Charles Borromeo in the 16th century after he heard lascivious stories about its nuns. After centuries as a noble villa, it’s now owned by a science research centre. You can visit a terrace of palms, cypresses, magnolias and roses, and a greenhouse of citrus trees (see Villa Monastero, Varenna).
Villa Serbelloni, Lake Como

The villa’s private gardens cover the entire tip of the Bellagio promontory. The tours stick mainly to the paths, overlooking Italianate, English-style and Mediterranean sections. Stendhal described the vista from the top as “sublime and enchanting” – indeed, it’s the only spot from which you can see down all three arms of Lake Como simultaneously (see Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio).
Villa Taranto, Lake Maggiore

The villa at Verbania, built in 1875 by Scotsman Neil MacEacharn, is closed to the public, but you can wander the English-landscaped gardens filled with exotic plants. Rare species include the world’s largest water lily at 2 m (6 ft) across and the towering Metasequoia, which was believed extinct for 200 million years until found in China in 1941.

Fountain, Villa Taranto