Varenna (

Comasco Comasco or Comasque is a dialect of Western Lombard language spoken in the city and suburbs of Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. ...

, Lecchese: ) is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) on

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

in the

Province of Lecco The Province of Lecco ( it, provincia di Lecco; Lecchese: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco. As of 2017, the province had a population of 337,211 on a surface of divided into 85 ''comuni'' (m ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

, located about north of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

and about northwest of

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...

. Varenna was founded by local fishermen in 769, and was later allied with the commune of

. In 1126 it was destroyed by the rival commune of

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps ...

, and later received the refugees from the

Isola Comacina Isola Comacina is a small wooded island of Italy’s Lake Como, administratively a part of the commune of Ossuccio. It is located close to the western shore of the Como arm of the lake in front of a gulf known as ''Zoca de l'oli'', a Lombard nam ...

, who had met the same fate (1169). Varenna borders the following municipalities:

Esino Lario Esino Lario (; Lecchese: ; locally ) is a municipality ('' comune'') of the Province of Lecco in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is about north of Milan, northwest of Lecco, and about from the eastern shore of Lake Como. The area arou ...

Lierna Lierna is a '' comune'' in the province of Lecco in Lombardy, in north-west Italy. It lies on the eastern shore of Lake Como, about north of Milan and about north-west of Lecco. Lierna borders the comuni of Esino Lario, Mandello del Lar ...

Oliveto Lario Oliveto Lario (Lecchese: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Lecco. Oliveto Lario borders the following municipalities: Abbadia Larian ...

Perledo Perledo (Comasco, Lecchese: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about northwest of Lecco. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 900 and an area ...

. The main sights are the

Castello di Vezio Castello di Vezio is a castle located nearby Varenna and Perledo, northern Italy. Characterized in the main tower by square merlons, similar to Cly Castle in Aosta Valley, it commands the Lake Como. It was once connected by walls to the villag ...

, a small museum dedicated to ''

Lariosaurus ''Lariosaurus'' is an extinct genus of nothosaurid from the Middle Triassic (late Anisian to late Ladinian stage) of central and western Europe and China. With a length of just , it was one of the smallest known nothosaurs. First discovered at Pe ...

'' (a

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma an ...

sea reptile related to

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

s), as well as the beautiful gardens at

Villa Monastero Villa Monastero is located in Varenna, Province of Lecco, on the shore of Lake Como. The villa lies south of the village, halfway between Varenna and Fiumelatte, and includes a botanical garden, a museum, and a convention center. The villa hosts ...

. Across the lake in the

province of Como The Province of Como ( it, Provincia di Como; german: Provinz Como; Comasco: ) is a province in the north of the Lombardy region of Italy and borders the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grigioni to the North, the Italian provinces of Sondrio and L ...

are: Bellagio,

Griante Griante (Comasco: ) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located on the western shore of Lake Como about northeast of Como between Menaggio (to the north) and Tremezzo. Griante also borders the ...

and

Menaggio Menaggio ( lmo, label=Comasco, Menas ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Como, Lombardy, northern Italy, located on the western shore of Lake Como at the mouth of the river Senagra. Menaggio has three ''frazioni'' (parishes): Croce, Lov ...

, in between Varenna and Fiumelatte is nowadays a museum, botanical garden and convention center. It was founded as a

Cistercian monastery The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

in the 11th or 12th century.''Villa Monastero : Percorsi e Immagini tra '800 e '900''. s.d. Varenna (with English text), p. 16, 27. It is served by

Varenna-Esino-Perledo station Varenna-Esino-Perledo is a railway station at Perledo, on the Tirano–Lecco railway in Lombardy, in northern Italy. As the name implies, it also serves Esino Lario (12km away) and Varenna. Originally called Varenna, it changed its name to Va ...

, on the Tirano–Lecco railway.

People

* Giovanni Battista Pirelli (1848–1932), entrepreneur, engineer and politician who founded Pirelli & C. in Milan in 1872.

References

External links

Proloco Varenna

Varenna Tourist Information

Cities and towns in Lombardy {{Lecco-geo-stub