Located between Milan and Varese, Monastero di Torba is a monumental Longobard complex, today part of an archaeology park that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, immersed in nature and centered around an imposing tower with frescoed interiors. Open from March to December, it’s a family destination with an interesting focus on archeology and nature. You can complete your visit with lunch in the annexed restaurant. It offers local and organic food as well as picnic baskets.

The time-honoured Torba complex dates back to the 5th century A.D., when the Romans constructed the walls of a military outpost to counter the threat of barbarian invasion, near the village of Castelseprio. To this day, the watchtower stills stands as a testament to the original function of the castrum, carried forward by Goths, Byzantines and Longobards and subject to continuous change over time.

Having been a defensive fortress, Torba became a religious centre with the settlement there of a group of Benedictine nuns who in the 8th century commissioned the construction of the monastery and, later, the small church. For around seven centuries, the secluded female community inhabited this site, and the legacy of their prolonged stay is to be found in the hieratic frescoes in the tower, which have an almost mysterious aura about them.

In the 15th century, the Benedictines moved on, signalling the start for Torba of a period of slow decline that led to the complex being transformed into a farm and, in the early 19th century, to it losing its religious function, sliding gradually into a state of degradation that came to an end only in 1976 thanks to FAI. Today, this ancient site with its highly significant past (not by chance was it inscribed in 2011 in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites) is enjoying a new lease of life thanks also to the continuous discovery of Longobard-era relics, which constitute just one of the surprises that the monastery – and the surrounding area, rich in natural and artistic treasures – offers to those who head off the beaten track in search of interesting places.