Varenna welcomes visitors disembarking from the boats with its Romantic Promenade, a graceful walkway bordered by a red railing that connects the pier to the historic downtown, whose small streets encompass some of the oldest historical buildings along the shores of the lake. The Romanesque church of St. John the Baptist, for example, is more than a thousand years old, while the Church of St. George, in the center of the village, dates back to the 13th century and contains frescoes painted between the 15th and 17th centuries.
But one of the most characteristic elements of Varenna is the Castello di Vezio, which is surrounded by olive trees. It is not known with certainty when the castle was built, but according to legend it was the Longobard queen Theodolinda who wanted it built a few years before her death in 627 AD. Certainly in the Middle Ages it was an important defensive structure of which a larger wall protected the village as far as the lake. Today you can visit the watchtower, accessed by a drawbridge, part of the dungeons and what remains of the city walls along with a corner turret.
In the garden surrounding the castle, there is a training center for small birds of prey, and, at certain times of the year, falconry performances can be seen.
Two other gems that make Varenna famous are two historical residences surrounded by beautiful gardens: Villa Cipressi and Villa Monastero.
Villa Cipressi consists of several buildings built between 1400 and 1800, now used as accommodations, and therefore not accessible except to guests, but it is surrounded by a beautiful terraced botanical garden, open to the public, which I recommend you visit.
Villa Monastero, on the other hand, can be visited and I describe it in the next file.
Here is an interesting fact: near Varenna is the village of Fiumelatte, whose stream has two particular characteristics: it is only 250 meters long and it disappears between October and March! It is such a special waterway that even the great Leonardo da Vinci wanted to study it, and he mentions it in his Codex Atlanticus.
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