Villa Bossi

Villa Bossi, is an architectural complex, designed with the typical 16th century structure, that shows the renovations made in the following centuries. The building counts 49 rooms, and is registered, according to the law for the protection of architectural heritage, as of “relevant historic value”.
The Bossi mansion has been built by Bernardo Bossi around mid-16th century on a previous medieval fortress with a lookout tower and has been property of the Bossi family for over 4 centuries.

The north wing overlooks the street and the Lake of Varese and was used for the Bossi family businesses, the concession for the trade of of the salt.
The fishermen used to go up the majestic Viale dei Pioppi with their chariots and buy from the Bossis the salt for the preservation of the fish.

The body of the South building was named “Casa del Torchio”, a large floor space where the grapes coming from the family’s vineyard were pressed.
At the lower floor we still find the “Antica Cantina”, with its original charm, even after an intense restoration. Around the middle of the ‘700s, the Bossi family moved to Milan and decided on a profound renovation of the Villa, in order to turn it into a holiday mansion, for residential use only.
For this reason, on the Casa del Torchio, the family built a new wing in the typical Austro-Hungarian style that was typical at the time.
Also, since they wanted to move the main entrance to the South, they added a magnificent Italian garden.

You can access the garden through the park that rises on the hill called “La Mirabella” where, over the centuries, prestigious trees have grown.
At the beginning of the 19th century, a new low building, used as a storage space for carriages and to keep hunting dogs, was added in order to separate the so called Noble Court from the the peasants courtyard with the stables. Another significant architectural element is the tower, which allows Villa Bossi to be spotted even from Varese. Since the upper part of the tower had collapsed, the family had it reconstructed in 1844. The new one was larger and higher and represents an early neo-gothic example, a very fashionable trend for rich families in Lombardia, inspiring their countryside mansion to the idea of a castle. During the ‘900s, the last member of the Bossi family sold Villa Bossi to the great soprano Gina Cigna, one of the most important personae in the lyrical panorama of the the last century. She was later defined as “the greatest Turandot interpreter of the ‘900s.”

From Gina Cigna, the Villa went into the hands of a renowned family from Milan, the Gadola-Beltrami family.
During the Second World War, Filippo Beltrami felt the urge to fight among the Partisan rows, and died in a battle in Piemonte.
He was remembered as “the Captain,” and Bodio Lomnago dedicated a street to him.

In 2007, the Bizzi family purchased the Villa and made it undergo an important restoration, focusing on turning it into an international centre for music.