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For the composer, see Edgard Varèse.
Varese (pronounced [vaˈreze] in Italian; Baretium in Latin) is a city and comune in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 55 km north of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or urban part of the city is called Varesotto.
[edit] GeographyThe city of Varese lies at the feet of Sacro Monte di Varese, which is part of the Campo dei Fiori mountain range. The city also looks over Lake Varese. While the province of Varese lies below the Alps, so mountains and hills constitute 32% and 46% of its territory respectively; other common features are rivers (including the Ticino and Olona) and seven lakes: three are big, (Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano and Lake of Varese and four other smaller ones Lake of Comabbio, Lake of Monate, Lake of Ghirla and Lake of Ganna. The southern part of the province is in the Pianura Padana (the flat bottomland of the River Po). [edit] DemographicsVarese, like the province, has a very high immigrant population owing to both its economy (many multi-national companies and the nearby EU institution JRC and location (proximity to Milan makes it an ideal place for the latter city's workers). [edit] HistoryThe town owes its origin to the strategic position that it held in past centuries: the two transapennine roads, toward Parma and Tortona, across the Pass of Cento Croci and Bocco, intersected here. The roads from the coast went through Varese territory and entered the Po Valley, so that a trading market developed in this territory. A Byzantine settlement, the ruins of which were found under the castle, existed in the Varese area of today. The presence of the Lavagna Counts in Varese territory dates from the beginning of the 11th century, and in 1161 Emperor Federico I invested the family with the title. At the end of the 12th century, two branches of Lavagna Counts - the Fieschi and Pinelli families - settled in Cassego from where they began to disforest, to build wooden constructions, to seed and breed livestock. The conflicts between the two families began immediately when the Fieschi family threw the Pinelli family out of Cassego and forced them to seek refuge in Carbello where they built a tower called “Pinelli Tower”. Later the two families agreed to divide up the territory. However, as the Fieschi family came to power in the Upper Val di Vara in the end of 13th century, they consolidated their presence by founding a village that became the center of regional life, and drew up a settlement plan that provided for identical brick houses. The Fieschi family continued the feud until 1386, when Antoniotto Adorno, the Genoese Doge, bought Varese from Count Carlo. In 1472 Varese was ruled by the Laudi family, feudatories of the Upper Val di Taro, until 1547 when, as result of a failed conspiracy of a nephew, GianLuigi, against Andrea Doria, the family power waned, and its dominions were expropriated to the Genoa Republic. In 1859, Giuseppe Garibaldi confronted Austrian forces led by Field Marshal-Lieutenant Carl Baron Urban near Varese. Also, it was here were Alessandro Marchetti's Savoia-Marchetti SM.93 made his first test flights. [edit] Tangentopoli and the fall of Democrazia CristianaThe disgrace of Varese as leading city of its territory began in the early 1990s with the anti-corruption investigation Mani pulite against the corruption system that was called Tangentopoli. As a matter of fact, Varese had always been a stronghold of the catholic party Democrazia Cristiana and partially of their allied party the Italian Socialist Party. The Anti-corruption investigation revealed the highly corrupted structure of the public Institutions in Varese. So when the investigation started, many Varese politicians fled abroad (mainly to France) not to be arrested and to face the anti-corruption trial. The main corruption scandal in Varese was about the dishonest administration of the city resources, that's to say all the main collaborators of the mayor, and the building of the new Airport Malpensa which was managed in a total fraudulent way by the local administrators of Varese, Busto Arsizio and Milan, who had the major economic interest in the exploitation of the new controversial Airport Malpensa against the Airport Linate. The fall of Varese corrupted administrators in the early 1990s led to a general economic crisis for the industrial activities in Varese: Varese lost his own bank Institute, Credito Varesino, which was sold to the Italian city of Bergamo, lost his own newspaper La Prealpina, which was sold to the town Busto Arsizio, Cagiva started losing money so that now the industry does not actually exist any more in Varese but has its own production office in other towns. [edit] TransportThe city is served by both the state-run Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) and Ferrovie Nord Milano (Le Nord), both of which run high-frequency train services to Milan. In addition, there is a project under way to connect Varese with Malpensa Airport; this line would then continue past Varese to Mendrisio and Lugano in Switzerland. Construction of the Varese-Mendrisio section (17.7 kilometers (11 mi) long) is expected to begin in 2009.[1] The city has both an extensive city bus network and provincial bus services. The A8 motorway connects Varese with Milan. This motorway was part of the first toll road system in the world. The Italian government gave permission in 2008 to start works on the long awaited Varese-Como-Bergamo motorway, which would also include a bypass of the city of Varese. Works are to start in 2010, and they might be finished by 2013.[2] [edit] Main sightsThe city is most famous for the Sacro Monte di Varese ('the sacred mountain of Varese'), a place of pilgrimage and worship. It is one of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, included on the UNESCO World Heritage list. [edit] EconomyThe economy of Varese is mainly based on industry and, to a lesser extent, specialized agriculture; some famous Varese-based firms are:
and many more as it is one of the most industrialised areas in Northern Italy. Varese is home to Malpensa International Airport, which serves the international traffic of Milan, Italy. [edit] EducationVarese is home to a European School, the European School, Varese, which was established in 1960 for the children of European Union staff, who work mainly at one of the three Joint Research Centres in nearby Ispra. It is one of the two sites of the University of Insubria. [edit] Notable people associated with Varese
[edit] Music festivals[edit] SportVarese is known for the Pallacanestro Varese which played, in the 1970s, 10 European Champions Cup finals in a row and won 5 of them.
[edit] International relationsMain article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy [edit] Twin towns — Sister citiesVarese is twinned with:
[edit] External links
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