Valmadrera

Riccardo Villa Botanical Garden, Valmadrera

The herb garden in the centre of Valmadrera, laid out where the Fatebenefratelli grew medicinal herbs for their hospice: more than nine hundred species in the four large original beds.

Today
Visit duration: 30 min – 1 h
Booking: Not required
Area: Lecco Branch

Illustration

Why go

The Riccardo Villa Botanical Garden occupies the Fatebenefratelli's former medicinal herb garden in the centre of Valmadrera.

The friars grew herbs here for their hospice and pharmacy workshop. The municipality bought the complex in 1979; the garden's restoration began with a herbalism course in 1986. The four large original beds hold more than nine hundred species, including medicinal, aromatic, fibre and dye plants. Other sections contain aquatic plants and local wild flora. The garden belongs to the Lecco provincial museum system and in 2022 was named after Riccardo Villa, one of those who promoted its restoration.

The old garden of medicinal herbs, remade in its four original beds, with more than nine hundred species.
An hour in the centre of Valmadrera, less than a kilometre from the station.

Highlights

The four large beds of the old garden of simples
The medicinal, aromatic, fibre and dye plants
The water-plant section
The area's wild and protected flora

Getting there

It is at Via Fatebenefratelli 6, in the centre of Valmadrera. The station, on the Lecco–Milan line via Molteno, is less than a kilometre away on foot; the C140 Como–Erba–Lecco bus has several stops in the village; by car, leave the SS36 at Civate/Valmadrera, and there is a public car park opposite the entrance.

Accessibility

The main entrance on Via Fatebenefratelli is free of architectural barriers, with disabled parking a few metres away; the paths are gravel, so a wheelchair can get around, but with more effort than on a solid surface.