Historical Notes about Barza d’Ispra and “Villa Mongini”

The small village of Barza claims ancient origins, very difficult to ascertain, since very few traces of those oldest times are left in archaeological remains or in documents. The neighbouring villages (Angera, Ispra, Cadrezzate) are characterized by some signs of prehistoric life, discovered especially in the many peat bogs close to Lake Maggiore.

However, it is certain that this area was inhabited on a permanent basis during the Roman times: in fact, small portions of a Roman dwelling were discovered recently (with some pieces of pottery) close to the Villa; moreover, two large sandstone milepost signs are still preserved in the tower.

The village stood as an independent community in the Middle Ages: in fact the name of Barza appeared in many documents since the eleventh century; a locally renowned family named “Da Barza” (i.e. “from Barza”) is reported in few documents kept at the archives in Varese and in its main churches.

Since those times and certainly at the beginning of the sixteenth century, almost all the surrounding lands and houses were owned by a single person: this situation was still true at the beginning of the last century. Since the “lords” of Barza represented the highest authority in the village, their house was the point of reference for all local activities and all the houses rented to the peasants were located very close to their villa.

It is extremely likely that originally this building was conceived as a castle, to protect the inhabitants of the village from thieves and many local wars; later on, in safer times, the original castle lost its defensive importance and was converted during the following centuries, into a dwelling house. Since the early eighteenth century the complex showed a rectangular shape: on three sides, there were dwelling rooms and cowsheds; the fourth side, characterized by the ancient tower, gave access to the internal court. The complex still shows this basic design today, though many changes were made through the centuries: the dwellings and the cowsheds were replaced by new wings of the owner residence that became a large villa with the addition of the garden,  of the park and of many pieces of artworks.

The most important transformations of the inner court and of the buildings were made in the second half of the nineteenth century by Mr. Pietro Mongini, a very famous tenor of his time (his most celebrated performance was Radames in the very first representation of “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi in Cairo, 1871). Indeed, Mr. Mongini was already at the peak of his career when in 1860 he bought the property, which was refurbished and enlarged to meet the luxury needs of the high society of the Kingdom of Italy. In fact, in that period many wealthy families from Turin or Milan enjoyed  spending time in the countryside, and as a consequence the villages on both sides of Lake Maggiore were transformed and enriched by new villas and parks. The large, wonderful park surrounding the villa in Barza was opened in the last years of Mr. Mongini’s life. After his death, in 1874, the villa was inherited by his wife and his children, who went on modifying and improving the property by adding the new church (dedicated to Saint Quirico and Saint Giuditta). The most eminent visitor of the villa was Umberto I, King of Italy, in 1879, whilst attending military exercises: a marble plaque on the villa’s façade facing the park commemorates his visit.

After a few other owners, in 1934 the property was sold to “Opera Don Guanella” that transformed the villa partly into a congress centre (named Pietro Mongini, after the famous tenor and previous owner), partly into a rest home for elders and partly into a centre for spirituality.

The Villa’s Tower and its Clock

A couple of years later, the new owners hosted in the villa a famous craftsman from Veneto, Mr. Adamo Marchioni, known in his time as the Wizard of Barza or the Wizard of Clocks. This latter is an appropriate nickname as he made a clock on the tower of the building, on the wall in front of the inner court. The clock is composed of a large central dial and of eleven smaller dials. The central, larger dial displays the local time; other eight smaller dials display Greenwich, Buenos Ayres, New York, San Francisco, Cairo, Jerusalem, Tokyo and Manila time. Three more dials, located at the bottom of the clock, display the current date, month and year. The tower houses six bronze bells, cast in 1940, which play the same chime as those located at the Sanctuary of Lourdes.

Few Words about Don Luigi Guanella

Don Luigi Guanella was born in 1842 in Campodolcino (in the province of Sondrio); he was ordained priest in 1866 and, following in Saint Giovanni Bosco’s footsteps , was soon deeply involved in educational programs for both children and grown-ups. He founded a women’s congregation in 1886 and a men’s congregation in 1908. His congregation counts today about 1200 sisters and 500 brothers and operates especially in Italy, Switzerland and in the US. Don Luigi Guanella died in 1915 in Como and was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1964.