Masnago Castle and Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Masnago Castle features architecture from many different periods ranging from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. With a tower and splendid frescoed interiors, this mediaeval fortress feels more like a stately home than a defensive stronghold. It is particularly renowned for the series of frescoes in the Room of Pastimes and the Room of Vices and Virtues.

Masnago Castle is home to several permanent historical art collections with works by some of Lombardy’s leading modern painters, such as Hayez, Bertini, Cremona, Ranzoni, Pellizza from Volpedo and the first Divisionist work by Balla. It also has an extremely important collection of drawings by Il Piccio that were formerly in the Piero Chiara collection.

The castle is surrounded by Parco Mantegazza, a tiny botanical garden.