Varese earned its reputation as the "Garden City" during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when wealthy Milanese industrialists built summer villas in the hills above the city. Many were designed in the Liberty style — the Italian version of Art Nouveau — with ornate ironwork, tiled facades, and gardens that spilled down the terraced hillsides.
The suburb of Masnago, east of the centre, has a concentration of these villas. Masnago Castle, a medieval fortification later remodelled as a private residence, now houses the Civic Museums of Varese and displays medieval frescoes alongside collections of archaeology and decorative arts. Villa Baragiola, in the same area, is set in a public park that makes a pleasant afternoon walk.
Most of the villas are privately owned and cannot be entered, but the exteriors and their gardens are visible from the surrounding streets. A walk or cycle through the Masnago district gives you the best sense of what Varese once was for Milan's upper bourgeoisie.