The Villa Mirabello, an admirable example of seventeenth-century architecture and mansion, was built in the mid-seventeenth century, by the Durini family, who had purchased the fiefdom of Monza from 1648.
The Durinis erected a beautiful villa, with large halls for parties and receptions, called "Mirabello." Its U-shaped structure open to the river landscape, with a court of honor, has great structural significance, because it marks the transition between the typology of the country palace enclosed within walls, typical of the 1400s - 1500s, and the new concept of the palace-villa open to a scenic garden or park.
Restructured and integrated in 1768, on the initiative of Cardinal Durini, who then inhabited it from that year, it became a "place of delights and coterie of literati." Remarkable frescoes and decorations can be found in the Mirabello; even more remarkable are the coffered ceilings made of wood, a true work of art.
