Strolling through the avenues, trails and stairs that characterise the wonderful green area of the Estensi Gardens and Villa Mirabello, one is enchanted when reaching the foot of the large plane tree at the top of the park's hill.

Of the many important tree specimens in the historic gardens, it is certainly among the most valuable and aesthetically pleasing.

No less than 35 m high and with a remarkable trunk circumference of 570 cm (diameter of 180 cm), it stands as a mighty cuirassier guarding Villa Mirabello and its civic museums. It is nice to stand at its feet and get lost with one's gaze upwards, among its foliage, to fully appreciate its exceptional stature and its slender forms towards the sky.

Probably planted around 1870 on the hillside facing north (towards the city centre and the Monte Campo dei Fiori massif), it is considered one of the largest and tallest plane trees in the province of Varese.

(Ph: Luca Pernechele)