On the outskirts of Varese, in the Masnago district, a large historic park covers a green hill with the 19th-century Villa Baragiola at its foot.

The historic house has lived many lives and has been altered several times, even becoming the seat of seminary classrooms and housing in the 1950s; today, it houses the Tactile Museum. The picturesque park was also modified during the 20th century, losing the artificial lake and the Art Nouveau hippodrome (one of the first in Italy), but retaining its splendid tree specimens and unique views. 

Marvellous in its bearing and stature is the giant sequoia. With a height of more than 30 metres and a trunk circumference of almost 7 metres (diameter 220 cm), the monumental tree is the undisputed star of the garden and the hillside characterised by the beautiful 1932 Hungarian-style wooden dacha.

Its elegant and harmonious bearing creates a fantastic landscape combination with the architectural elements and the green hillside meadow: absolutely worth photographing. 

(Ph: Luca Pernechele)