Villa Toeplitz is a beautiful villa of eclectic architecture located in the Varese district of Sant’Ambrogio, at the foot of the Italy’s Sacro Monte hill, with a series of chapels leading up to the brow of a hill to echo Calvary.

The villa owes its name to banker Giuseppe Toeplitz, originally from Poland, who bought it in 1914, renovated and expanded it, making the gardens particularly impressive through the addition of water features, including a magnificent flight of steps in porphyry stone decorated with fountains and waterfalls.

The gardens cover 20 acres and are the result of various interventions over the years. The park is in the same eclectic style as the villa, the fountains and basins inspired by the oriental gardens that Toeplitz’s wife admired during one of her many trips to the Far East.

The estate was purchased by the town council in 1972 and is now an important tourist attraction both for its beauty and unique grounds and the wildlife, such as great spotted woodpeckers, European green woodpeckers and many types of squirrels.