Monza Trip Overview
Discover Monza and its history
Explore the most pictoresque corners of the city
Taste typical products
Additional Info
Duration: 3 hours
Starts: Monza, Italy
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Monza Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Monza, Lombardia, Italy
Discover Monza and its history
Explore the most pictoresque corners of the city
Taste typical products
Stop At: Duomo di Monza, Piazza del Duomo, 20900 Monza Italy
Saint John’s church of Monza boasts a long and legendary history, from the Lombard origins to the riot of baroque decorations.
Visit inside to admire the main works of art.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Cappella di Teodolinda, Piazza Duomo Duomo di Monza, 20900 Monza Italy
The origins of Monza cathedral are bound up with the figure of Theodolinda, a devout Roman-Catholic princess from Bavaria who married Authari, king of the Lombards. Not long after being widowed, the queen married Agilulf, duke of Turin, who in turn became king of the Lombards. Theodelinda chose to base her court in Monza. In 595-600 she had a palace built there and a chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist, later turned into a basilica, at first used also as royal mausoleum: here king Agilulf, Theodolinda’s son Adaloald and Theodelinda herself, after spending 28 years as a Queen and, later, after her husband died, as a regent for her still under age son.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Arengario, Piazza Roma, 20900 Monza Italy
Built towards the end of the 13th century, the ancient town hall called Arengario (from the Latin arengarius, deriving from the Germanic hari-hring, place for gatherings) stands quite contiguous to the Duomo, thus visually representing the opposing religious and civic powers marking even in Monza the Age of the city states.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Ponte Dei Leoni, Via Vittorio Emanuele II, 20900 Monza Italy
Built in 1842 on the remains of the roman bridge of Arena (one of its arches is still visible at one end of the present-day bridge) for the opening of Via Ferdinandea, now Via Vittorio Emanuele II, the Lions Bridge is made up of three arches with granite abutments. On its sides four marble lions, work of the sculptor Tantardini, watch over the monumental bridge. Two footpaths follow the river Lambro, leading to the areas that were once occupied by mills for grinding wheat, irrigation ditches and washhouses. The typical and picturesque houses with communal long balconies are a testimony of this ancient area.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Chiesa di Santa Maria in Strada, Via Italia Piazzetta di Santa Maria in Strada, Monza Italy
The building of the church, whose name recalls the important Strata (paved street) connecting Monza to Milan, was promoted by a community of Franciscan Tertiaries between the year 1348 and 1368 following the project of Ambrogiolo da Milano. Transferred in 1393 to the Augustinian friars of the Milanese monastery of San Marco, it was internally transformed using late Baroque style decorations starting from 1756.
The façade, with a fake loggia and terracotta ornamentation, is one of the most beautiful in the Lombard Gothic style and was restored in 1870; the original stone statue representing the Madonna and Child, connected with the Augustinian cult of the Virgin Mary’s girdle and sculpted by an anonymous Lombard artist in the 15th century, is actually displayed in the Museum and Treasury of the Duomo and replaced in the niche by a copy.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: I Giardini della Villa Reale, Viale Brianza 1, 20900 Monza Italy
An English garden, the first in Italy, designed by Piermarini in 1778. We are talking about the Royal Gardens of the city of Monza, with trees and meadows, caves, ponds and small waterfalls.
Walking through its paths you can also admire a characteristic Doric temple which reflects in the waters of the pond inhabited by swans, turtles, ducks and frogs! Who knows if amongst them is hiding a prince!
From the shores of the lake you can see the cave and the statue of Neptune, or cross the “rock garden” to come down towards the large central lawn, admiring the waterfall and small stream. Continuing left along the telescope in front of the villa, you can admire the Cave of Polyphemus, the neo-Gothic walls and the Torretta.
But what makes the Royal Gardens exceptionally special are the Green Giants: ancient centuries-old trees such as oaks, cypresses, horse chestnut trees and cedars of Lebanon.
Duration: 20 minutes
