CASTELLO di MASNAGO
(VARESE)

The massive twelfth century tower and the fifteenth century wing testify to the fact that the castle was fortified during the Middle Ages. The family Castiglioni is responsible for the castles most important treasures: two cycles of frescos, one in the downstairs hall which depicts pass time scenes in the lake settings of Varese, and the other in the upstairs hall depicting feminine figures, symbols of vice and virtue. This complex, discovered in 1937 by the then owner Angelo Mantegazza, represent some of the few remaining Gothic frescos in Lombardy. The castle was transformed over the ages in line with a villa, which has a large park with a notable steep Baroque staircase. 
Today the castle offers ospitality to the Contemporary art Gallery with works from the Civic art Gallery situated in Villa Mirabello, and from Historical Archives of the Video Gallery Giaccari (MU-el). 

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