The Medieval village of Varese was defined by a singular dialectic between the small, walled urban centre dominated by the cathedral of San Vittore and its baptistery, and in the countryside an articulated widespread system of castellanze. These castellanze were little nuclei usually characterized by a church and a tower, occurring in the territory around Varese. A great urbanistic revolution took place in Varese towards the end of the 1500 and the beginning of the 1600s when it became a head parish, and at the same time the nearby great construction of the Rosario il Sacro Monte became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Northern Italy. Another decisive step in urban development took place in the 1700s when Francesco III Duke of Modena, Royal Governor of Milan and Feudal Lord of Varese under the Austrians, made Varese his preferred residence. Thus he had constructed the grand Palazzo Estense, a true monstre of urban planning, outside the antique walls and completed by a great park with formal gardens behind the palace. Palazzo Estense, the current seat of the Municipal Administration, represents an urban development typical of the culture of the villa under the Estes in the 1700s: this being the polarity between the palace and the residences of those connected with the court. In the 1800s and 1900s construction of villas continued but with a different logic. Now it was the turn of the great bourgeois , industrial entrepreneurs to create their own sumptuous residences , first in the Eclectic and then the Liberty (Art Nouveau) style. And, as we know, the Liberty style of Varese was influenced by the European phenomenon and championed by the charismatic personage of Giuseppe Sommaruga. Grand structures like the residences in Campo dei Fiori, a system of villas, hotels, and other buildings were constructed in this period and the myth of Varese as a city of gardens was born. Successive development was marked by an awareness of the city’s identity which led to the creation of the Province of Varese. Later development is characterized by the Fascist architecture of Piazza Monte Grappa. The Piazza made a big impact on the city and changed the connection between the Palazzo Estense , now the municipal seat, and the antique town centre. Together all of these phenomena make Varese a singular city: one with an uninterrupted development form Medieval times to the present. But at the same time Varese was strongly reshaped in every epoch, thus contributing to the collective fascination of this city.

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