Villa Mirabello was built in the eighteenth century on the top of the Mirabello hills. Mirabello means beautiful view, and the villa is aptly named for its panoramic vistas over the lake and Alps. The villa currently houses the Civic Museums, which were created from a nineteenth-century museum. The complex comprises the prehistoric-archaeological museum, a section of the city’s picture gallery, the butterfly and moth collection, halls dedicated to the Italian Risorgimento, the resistance and the contemporary history of Varese.

Dedicated to the ones interested in the history of Santa Maria del Monte, it includes and shows romanesque sculptures, precious miniatures, a collection of important paintings of Giuseppe Baroffio Dall’Aglio and a section of sacred art from the 20th century. 

You'll find 20th century bright rooms but also hidden old rooms situated under the Sanctuary, with remains of fifteenth-century frescos. The museum includes also a beautiful terrace with one of the most beautiful views in Lombardia. 

The home-atelier of the great eclectic artist which dates back to the early '900, built by himself, is the first point of interest you can meet after the 14th chapel on the sacred path of Sacro Monte di Varese. Pogliaghi designed it as a museum and a laboratory: a place to retreat to study and create, but also a space to collect inspiring artworks.