Villas and mansions in Lombardy: Villa Somaini

Villa Somaini, Lomazzo

The small town of Lomazzo is located northeast of Milan, between Saronno and Como. In the town there are several well-preserved witnesses of the textile industry that boomed around the metropolis of Milan in the 19th century. The cotton factory built by the textile manufacturer Francesco Somaini and the associated workers' settlement in the center of the city have been preserved in unchanged form to this day. Until the early 1970s, more than 1300 workers produced cotton here.

Opposite the factory, the above Villa Somaini was built in the early 18th century as a second stately home. It was built right next to the older Villa Raimondi, a 16th century four-wing renaissance palazzo with magnificent interior decorations. The two "castles" and the associated park occupy a considerable area in the center of town and cannot be visited.