Museo civico archeologico di Villa Mirabello

The museum preserves, exhibits and enhances a rich heritage spanning different eras and disciplines. The prehistoric and protohistoric section collects material mainly from the Varese area, dating from between the Neolithic and Iron Age, with important evidence of the pile-dwelling civilisation and the Celtic populations. Numerous local artefacts belong to the Roman period, documenting the progressive assimilation of the Cisalpine communities into the culture and organisation of the Roman world: these include material from the necropolis, an extensive lapidary and the precious diatreta Cagnola, whose ancient origin remains uncertain.

In addition to the historical dimension, the museum also holds an important natural heritage. It includes two collections of Lepidopterathe first, which belonged to the tenor Francesco Tamagno, dedicated mainly to American butterflies; the second, collected by the engineer Mario Simondetti, consisting of Italian and partly European specimens. These are complemented by about one hundred taxidermied animals and various zoological exhibits from the Countess' bequest Ippolita Bethlem, widow Frigerio, including birds of paradise, birds of prey, aquatic animals, a small collection of hummingbirds and a pair of walrus tusks, as well as a collection of mineralogical samples.

The museum tour also includes the Risorgimento heritage, organised around Eleuterio Pagliano's large painting Crossing the Ticino at Sesto Calende by the Hunters of the Alps, and the civic collection of sidearms and firearms. The villa that houses the museum is an integral part of the route: it has rooms for temporary exhibitions e educational workshops, storage spaces, a photographic archive and a documentary archive on the history of the museum, as well as the literary archives and, on deposit, the collection of paintings by Renato Guttuso belonging to the Pellin collection.