There is a place on Lake Como that continues to grow without the need for special effects. It is Villa Monastero, which in recent years has recorded record numbers, far exceeding 390,000 annual visitors. A success that tells not only about the strength of a single attraction, but a broader change in the way people travel and experience the Lombardy region.
The villa’s origins go back to the 12th century, when it was founded as a women’s monastery. Over the centuries it was transformed, changing skin and function, until it became a private residence and then a public asset. Today it is a museum, a cultural space and an international meeting center, capable of holding together history, architecture and scientific research without ever being congealed.
The botanical garden
Next to the interiors, the botanical garden is the real emotional protagonist. A pathway overlooking the lake that runs for almost two kilometers, among terraces, rare plants and views that invite you to slow down. It is not a simple ornamental garden, but a landscape built over time, where nature and design dialogue in a surprisingly balanced way.
However, the record number of visitors should also be read in another key: that of the expansion of tourism that traditionally gravitates to Milan. Increasingly, the Lombard capital is the starting point for itineraries that reach beyond urban borders, in search of destinations that can be easily reached in a day or with short stays. Varenna and Lake Como intercept this flow perfectly: they are close, well connected and offer a radically different experience than the city, made up of landscape, silence and dilated time.
In this sense, Villa Monastero becomes a strategic piece of a Milanese tourism that no longer focuses only on museums, fashion and design, but opens up to a wider cultural and landscape dimension. Not an alternative to Milan, but a natural extension of it. The lake does not steal visitors from the city: it takes them further afield.
Scientific and cultural meetings
Also contributing to strengthening this vocation is the villa’s role as a venue for international scientific and cultural meetings. An activity less visible to the general public, but decisive in giving depth and continuity to its function, preventing it from becoming just a postcard of success.
The case of Villa Monastero shows that tourism can grow without consuming places, if it is embedded in a coherent vision. Here, beauty has not been compressed or showcased, but networked with the territory. And it is precisely this ability to make a system, between lake and metropolis, that explains a record that looks more like a structural trend than a simple lucky year.
