The Monastery of Santa Maria in Lambrugo represented one of the most important Benedictine monasteries of Monte di Brianza, with the others of Brugora, Cremella and Bernaga. The monastery, founded in XI cent. by the nobles of Carcano, was lived by few nuns, which initially did not respect the seclusion. Only in XVI cent., after the consecration of the nearby church, the ecclesiastic authority succeeded to impose the strong rules of seclusion to the nuns. For the tradition, the cloistered Benedictine nuns observed the rule of San Benedetto. After years of raids and intrusions, in XVII cent., the Monastery reached its maximum splendour, thanks to the annexation of several lands and the richness that those produced.
The Monastery of Santa Maria in Lambrugo became, in that period, residence for lot of daughters of nobles from Milan and Brianza who aimed to a monastic carrier. To testimony the importance of the Monastery, ecclesiastic documents took note of several visits of Cardinal Federico Borromeo in 1600. The richness of the Monastery permitted the construction of the peanut tower, that is today one of the symbol of the town.
The comfortable habits of the nuns, legacy of their noble origins, with the costs for the enlargements of the Monastery, brought it rapidly on the brink of bankruptcy. Only the foundation of the first free school for the habitants postponed the closure of the Monastery. This was only delayed: when, in 1798, Repubblica Cisalpina rose, all the properties of the religious structure were sold to privates. The Monastery was naked of its wealth as its religious functions. Only in XX cent. was restored a part of the structure for religious aims. In a part of the Monastery, Suore Giuseppine and then Figlie di Gesù di Verona lived there, but in 1967 the building returned to be unused. Today, a part of the old Benedictine Monastery is a property of the Municipality of Lambrugo, while the other one is private. It is impossible to visit the interior, but you can walk around the building, that alternates parts of the original architecture with parts of recent restoration.

The upper part of Lambrugo is a panoramic point from where you can admire the green lands those surround the town, and the mounts those frame Triangolo Lariano. Starting from the old Convent of Monache Benedettine, you have to get Via Volta and rise up the stone slope. Taking the right, ended the first set of houses, you can admire the first view of the countryside. Lambro river, the main river of the area, is hidden by trees. At the first fork, you have to get the left, continuing to rise. Following Via San Carlo, you arrive at the new church dedicated to Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, dated back to XX cent..
The church, with its majestic aspect, is divided into three naves with the same height. The entrances are three, set in archways which remain to the upper windows. In the church you can observe several frescos of Enrico Volontiero, as well as a marvellous bas relief, that represents the deposition of Jesus, and it was originally located in the Benedictine Monastery in the lower part of the town. The church of San Carlo is not the first one dedicated to the saint. An old church, realized in 1615 by the nobles Giussanis, was in fact placed where today is the oratory of Lambrugo, which has recovered the spaces after the deconsecration.
Exactly where the old church was, there is now a panoramic point and there you can observe the surroundings of Lambrugo. In the South-West countryside, which divides Lambrugo from Lurago d’Erba, there are Tenuta Pomelasca, Villa Sormani and other farmsteads which in the past served the noble villas. To the North you can also see the wooden mounts, as Cornizzolo and Bollettone, and the Lake Segrino, Pusiano and Alserio lay to the feet of them.