Have you ever wondered what it might be like to spend a couple of days of summer by a
beautiful lake instead of on the beach?
If so, we suggest taking a look at Lake Maggiore, or
Lago Maggiore in Italian, which might ring a bell as it is one of Italy’s biggest lakes
after Lake Garda.
Its surrounding towns, incomparable nature and dark blue water suggest an
amazing ambiance that is bound to leave you stunned.
So, if this sounds like a destination you could make into a memorable adventure
make sure to hang around to find out more about this one-of-a-kind Italian lake.
About Lake Maggiore
Lake Maggiore, as mentioned before, is not only the second largest lake in Italy but
is also the biggest lake in the South of Switzerland.
To give you a slight idea of its size, it is 64
kilometres long and 3 to 5 kilometres, even 10 kilometres in some parts, wide.
It’s surface area amounts to 210 square kilometres and
to put that into perspective it will take you
approximately 20 minutes on a ferry to cross the water.
It is also 179 metres deep so always stay cautious!
This lake didn’t always go by the name of Maggiore.
It is thought that it has naturally existed in this location, in the south of Alps, since
the Copper age, so prehistoric times.
After a few different ‘owners’ of the lake, it was
taken over by the Romans who named it Verbanus Lacus or Lacus Maximus.
You might be thinking, but how do I get there?
Where do I stay?
How can I actually enjoy the lake?
Well, you have an endless amount of options, so let’s take a look at a few:
Stresa
Starting with Stresa; a gorgeous little town located in the Gulf of Borromeo, only 90
kilometres away from Milan, in the region of Piedmont.
Stresa is home to just under 5000 inhabitants, making it a calm, quiet and relaxing
destination for tourists.
It was previously a very famous destination for fishermen in the
15th century.
Stresa offers an abundance of hotels to spend your night in, like Astoria, Villaminta, La
Palma, but the one that stands out the most and the one we would recommend choosing is
the Grand Hotel Des Iles Borromees.
This was one of the first hotels that encouraged more
hotels to be built around the area in 1861.
In fact, the famous American writer Ernest Hemingway had set his well-known novel Farewell
To Arms in this very hotel; after which he decided to personally visit the town in the
year of 1948.
But this is not the only piece of literature that has mentioned this beautiful
commune.
You might have also heard of Good Blood by Aaron Elkins, written in 2004.
So, if you enjoy elegance, grace and sophisticated atmospheres, the Grand Hotel would be the
perfect host that can transport you to the 19th
century.
While staying at your chosen hotel you can enjoy an impeccable panoramic view that opens
up from Mount Mottarone.
This 1491-metre tall mountain located between Lake Maggiore
and Lake Orta not only offers a walking trail but you can also take the
Stresa–Alpino–Mottarone Cable Car and enjoy the gorgeous views from high up in the
sky.
This cable car was opened in 1970 and has hosted up to 100,000 travelers per year since
then.
Unfortunately, a crash occurred in 2021 which has temporarily stopped it from running.
While walking around Stresa you might notice that some of the buildings look familiar.
Maybe because you have seen them in any of the following movies: The Bishop's Bedroom
shot in 1977, La Sapienza (2014) directed by Eugène Green, Blessed Are the Rich (1972)
by Salvatore Samperi, and many others.
Tourists also have the chance to visit the Neoclassical style Church of Saints Ambrogio
and Theodul which was restored by Giuseppe Zanoia
in the late 18th century.
You can also easily reach the three Borromean Islands,
which are an absolute must-see but more on that
later.
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Verbania
Now let’s move on to another little town called Verbania with a population of just
over 30,000 people.
It is of course located on the shore of Lake Maggiore and in fact, it can be
found just on the opposite side of Stresa with a distance of 3.7 kilometers in between.
Verbania is twinned with cities in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the USA and a few
more.
In this town of hot summers but cold winters, you can visit the colorful blossoming Villa
Taranto botanical garden where on your tour you can explore all 18 hectares including
herbariums, boulevards, greenhouses that were all created by a Scottish traveller in the
1930s.
Apart from admiring Lake Maggiore and smelling colorful flowers, on your Verbania bucket
list you must include the Museo del Paesaggio, which is a museum home to paintings and
sculptures created in the 19th and 20th centuries by artists like Arturo Martini (1889 - 1947),
Daniele Ranzoni (1843 - 1889), Mario Tozzi (1895 - 1979) and many others.
You should also make sure to visit the Oratory of Saint
Remigio, a chapel from the 11th-12th centuries, the 16th century Baroque Style church Basilica
di San Vittore, or the Romanesque cathedral Chiesa di San Fabiano.
Before moving on to our next destination, let’s take a look at a few little fun facts
that tell us about these famous people who were born in
Verbania, such as: the famous footballer Samuele Beretta who is playing for Borgaro
Nobis at the moment, or Field Marshal of Italy during World War I, or even the world's oldest
living person Emma Morano.
Borromeo Castle or House of Borromeo
The Borromeo Castle is one of the biggest highlights of the area of Lake Maggiore.
First of all because it is impossible to miss it as
it is grand, elegant and just incredibly stunning to
stare at all day, but also because of its interesting history we are about to discuss.
This castle belongs to an Italian noble family of the Borromeo’s, therefore the name
Borromeo Castle.
At the beginning of the 14th century there were many merchants going by
the same name but the one who was first to become a man of high importance was Filippo
Buonromei who founded a bank, married Talda di Tenda and had a daughter Margherita
Borromeo who all helped run the banks located in Venice as well as Florence.
Margherita had a son Vitaliano Vitaliani who was adopted by his uncle who also ran one
of the Borromeo banks in Italy.
Later in the 15th century, Vitalino Borromeo the First became the nobleman of Arona, a
small town on Lake Maggiore thanks to duke Filippo Maria.
All this made the Borromeo’s the main owners of the
lands surrounding the lake.
Over the centuries members of the Borromeo family have built
multiple castles around the area such as the castle Rocca Vitaliana, castle at Peschiera
Borromeo, a summer palace on the island of Isola Bella and many more.
Some members of the family have even been Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, the
first of them being Carlo Borromeo in the 16th century and the last being Edoardo Borromeo
in the 19th century.
Today, we know that Lavinia Borromeo born in 1977 has married John Elkann, Matilde Borromeo
born in 1983 has married the Prince of Antonious of Furstenberg and Beatrice Borromeo, born
in 1985 who you might know because of her political career as a journalist, has married
Pierre Casiraghi.
Now to talk a little bit about the castle itself, we know that the construction started
in the 1100s and the version we see today was finalized
in the 13th-14th centuries.
It had been owned by different members over the centuries
but finally it was bought by the Borromeos in 1449 and has been in their ownership ever
since.
Today you can visit this gorgeous medieval baroque-style castle to enjoy the view of
Lake Maggiore, explore different halls inside and
also a museum which was founded by Princess Bona Borromeo Arese at the end of 20th century
where you can discover more than a 1000 dolls created from the 18th century to today
from all over the globe.
This noble family has also owned the Borromean islands for more than 4 centuries.
The Borromean Islands
And now that we have learnt about the Borromeo family and their history it is time to discuss
the last but definitely not least part of Lake Maggiore, The Borromean Islands.
This group of islands consists of Isola Bella, Isola Madre
and Isola dei Pescatori all located in the west
arm of the lake.
There are also two very small islands called islets but they are impossible
to visit.
Of course, as you might have already guessed these islands have been acquired by
the Borromeo family since the 16th century giving them their family name.
Even the islands in particular, for example Isola Bella is
named after Isabella Borromeo.
However, it was previously known as l'isola Inferiore which
means the lower land in Italian and was utilized as a fishing village.
This island is 320 metres long and 400 metres wide making it a very
intimate and cozy destination to visit.
You can take a ferry to explore the palace with a
beautiful garden and a small fishing village as well.
Nowadays, it also hosts an annual music festival in the summer.
Isola Madre, which was previously known as Isola di San Vittore and later as Isola
Maggiore, is actually the biggest island of the three.
Madre is mainly known for its English-style gardens constructed in the 18th
century which stretch over eight whole hectares.
It is also known that the Palazzo Borromeo has stood since the 16th century and
is now home to important Italian artwork.
And lastly, Isola dei Pescatori which translates to a fisherman’s island is the only inhabited
island today with a population of 25 people which is a drastically declined number from
200 inhabitants in the 1970s.
And it is because of this that it also goes by the name Isola
Superiore, so the main island of the archipelago.
In size it is 375 metres long and 100 metres wide, meaning it is not at all grand
but it does fit houses, fish restaurants, a fish
museum, an ancient chapel and of course it has space for you; the traveler!
This brings us to the end of our video.
We really hope you enjoyed finding out about Lake
Maggiore, its surrounding little towns of Stresa and Verbania as well as the history
of the Maggiore family.
Make sure to let us know down below in the comment section what part of
Lake Maggiore you enjoyed learning about and why.
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Thank you for watching!