Walk up the main road, Via Garibaldi, and you will arrive in a little square at the foot of the hill of Serbelloni’s Gardens, on the left you find the Basilica di San Giacomo, built between 1125 and 1150. The bell tower, which was an ancient system of defence, and the three double ferrule apses, the four capitals and the Evangelistic Symbols situated in the hall, belong all to the original basilica. Inside you will find two 14th century works from the Umbrian and Lombard schools, some Romanesque sculptures and paintings dated back to the 16th and 17th century, like Perugino’s “deposition of Christ” or “Madonna delle grazie”.

The San Giovanni Battista’s church is the oldest in Bellagio, and was built above the remains of another church built many centuries before, while the building as you see it today is a result of the restyling in 1785. The most interesting work is an altar-piece figuring “the risen Christ” from Gaudenzio Ferrari.

The whole promontory at east above the village is occupied by Villa Serbelloni and its beautiful park. It was built in the 15th century and today it belongs to the Rockfeller foundation of New York and is used as a study centre. From Via Garibaldi you can enter the gardens, were you will be surrounded by elegant paths and avenues from where you can admire the enormous collection of rare and exotic plants, secular trees, flowers and rosebeds.

Villa Melzi represents another beautiful neoclassical villa. The current owner is a descendant of the Melzi family and for this reason, it is not possible to enter the villa, but you can visit the museum and its wonderful garden, where we can find an Etruscan cinerary urn of the 3rd century B.C, two Egyptian scultures dated back to the 13th and 14th century and a statue of Dante and Beatrice “Dante condotto per mano da Beatrice” by Comolli.

Bellagio offers not only a nice lakefront from where you can admire splendid view of the whole lake, but also a wide selection of excursions. For example you can reach Monte San Primo (approx.14km), where you can go for some nice walks, ski and enjoy an enchanting panoramic view.