Consonno: Italy's Abandoned Las Vegas in the Brianza Woods

The mad dream of Count Bagno

Consonno is a place unlike any other ghost town in Italy. It was not abandoned because of an earthquake, a flood, or a landslide. Consonno was erased by a megalomaniac dream, and then forgotten when that dream collapsed. Its story is a surreal parable, somewhere between comedy and tragedy, that speaks to Italy's economic boom and the illusions it left behind.

The original borgo stood on the hills between Lecco and the Brianza, a small cluster of farmhouses with a church and a cemetery, home to a few dozen families. Everything changed in 1962, when Count Mario Bagno, a Milanese property developer, bought the entire village with a visionary plan: to transform it into a pleasure city, an Italian Las Vegas in the Brianza woods.

The city of amusements

Count Bagno had nearly all the original houses demolished, sparing only the church and cemetery. In their place rose bizarre, kitsch structures: a minaret, a Chinese pagoda, a medieval-style shopping arcade, a dance hall, a panoramic restaurant, fountains, gardens, and even a hotel. Consonno was rechristened "la città dei balocchi" — the toy city — and inaugurated to considerable media fanfare.

For a few years, it worked. On weekends, people came up from Milan and the Brianza to dance, eat, and enjoy this improbable place. The dance evenings drew hundreds, the hotel was full, the newspapers wrote about it. But the dream did not last.

In 1976, a landslide blocked the main access road. Without a road connection, visitors stopped coming. Count Bagno tried to hold on, but his finances were already failing. Consonno was gradually abandoned through the 1980s. After the count's death in 1995, the decline accelerated.

What you see today

Consonno today is a disorienting place. Rising from the Brianza woods are graffiti-covered concrete structures whose architecture mixes Oriental, medieval, and modernist styles in a surreal pastiche. Vegetation is reclaiming everything, and the contrast between lush nature and crumbling concrete creates an atmosphere found nowhere else.

Points of interest

- The shopping arcade: the largest structure, with empty shopfronts and graffiti covering every surface

- The minaret: an Oriental-style tower, still standing but unstable

- The dance hall: the space where people once danced, now overrun by vegetation

- The church of Sant'Ambrogio: the only building from the original borgo to survive demolition, still consecrated

- The cemetery: small and tended, a testament to the community that existed before Count Bagno

- The graffiti and street art: over the years Consonno has become an open-air canvas for writers and street artists

Practical information

Getting there

Consonno lies within the municipality of Olginate, in the province of Lecco. The road that climbs to the borgo is closed to traffic by a barrier: it can only be reached on foot or by bicycle. From the car park on the SP54, a paved path ascends about 2 km with a 200-metre elevation gain. The walk takes around 30–40 minutes.

Tips for visiting

- Comfortable shoes for the climb and the uneven ground of the borgo

- Do not enter the unstable structures: floors and roofs are at risk of collapse

- Bring water and food: there are no refreshment points

- Allow about an hour to explore the borgo

- In summer the climb can be tiring: set out early in the morning

Nearby

Consonno's position between Lake Lecco and the Brianza hills offers many options for combining visits. Lake Garlate and the lakefront promenade of Lecco are a few kilometres away. For lunch, local trattorias serve pizzoccheri, casoncelli, and polenta with braised meat — the hearty cooking of the Lario area.

When to visit

Consonno can be visited year-round, but the best months are April, May, June, September, and October. Spring and autumn offer ideal temperatures for the walk and a quality of light that enhances the decadent atmosphere of the place. In winter the path can be muddy and slippery.