Urban metamorphosis in Varese: the lost buildings of the old town

The lost buildings of Old Varese

Every Monday, on a virtual walk, the column “Urban metamorphosis” talks about the transformations that Varese has undergone in the last one hundred years, that is, since it became the Capital of the Province. The column is written by Fausto Bonoldi, a historic figure in Varese journalism who has covered this topic for years in the Facebook group La Varese Nascosta (“The Hidden Varese”) and who has also written a book, published by Macchione, entitled “Cara Varese come sei cambiata” (“Dear Varese, how you’ve changed”).

Urban metamorphosis, 50th instalment: the lost buildings of Old Varese

In order to celebrate the 50th instalment, we decided to do something different: to show a video that summarises the most important lost buildings of Old Varese. The video consists of photographs we have published or seen many times, so it is nothing new. However, I thought it would be useful to show you the “lost buildings of Old Varese” in sequence (from the fifteenth-century Griffi Palace to the Casà Romanò, which was replaced with the Standa department store), to show how even more beautiful our town would be, if so many buildings, had not been demolished, but restored or even renovated, as we started to do in the 1970s, with the surviving buildings.

 

Translated by:Camilla Tofanelli and Rebecca Motta

Reviewed by prof. Rolf Cook