Lake Maggiore

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#lakemaggiore #Stresa #Borromeanisland #isolabellastresa #withsergioitsbetter

Ciao Belli!
Today we are in Piedmont region, in the North of Italy where we are going to discover the beautiful Lake Maggiore featuring the enchanting villages of Stresa and Baveno as well as the incredible islands known as “Isola Madre”, “Isola Bella” and “Isola dei Pescatori”.
Are you ready?
Andiamo!

With a surface of 212 km2 (82 square miles) Lake Maggiore is the 2nd biggest lake of Italy while the 1st one is Lake Garda. Keep in mind that the upper part of Lake Maggiore belong Switzerland.
So, if you are planning a complete tour around its perimeter, don’t forget to bring your passport and when you are in Switzerland, buy some chocolate!

Baveno and Stresa are two charming towns of 5,000 residents each on the shores of the lake.
We are approximately 90 kilometres (56 miles) northwest of Milan.
The nearest airport is Milan Malpensa (MXP), 52 km away (32 Miles).

Thanks to the elegant lakefront hosting luxury hotels and historic houses, and their strategic position just opposite the Borromean islands, both villages are popular tourist resort.

The name of Stresa first appeared in documents in AD 998 as “Strixsya”. In today Italian “striscia” means “stripe” so probably its name derives from the old name "strich" which means a rather extended line of land.

In the 15th century, it grew into a fishing community under the rule of the Visconti family.
And then under the control of the Borromeo family.

In 1800 the Simplon pass connecting Italy and Switzerland was open, making the way in and out from Stresa much easier.
Aristocrats, entrepreneur, socialites, everybody want to be here!

And now a bit of gossip and “who’s who!”

Queen Victoria, spent a month's vacation in Baveno at Villa Henfrey (now known as Villa Branca) in 1879.

Winston Churchill and his newly married wife spent their honeymoon (Spicy!)
at the Lido Palace Hotel in Baveno in 1908.

Ernest Hemingway, the famous American journalist and writer stayed in Stresa twice in 1918 and 1948.
He had set part of his 1929 novel “A Farewell to Arms” in the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees.

Today Stresa and Baveno are quite villages with glamorous hotels, charming cafes, touristy restaurants, fascinating lake promenade, lovely gardens and so on.

And if you love music, do not miss the "Settimane Musicali", an international classical music festival which is held annually in the summer.

While here, how you can skip a boat ride to the Borromean Islands?
C’mon!

The Borromean Islands (Isole Borromee in Italian) are a group of three small islands and a few islets between Verbania to the north and Stresa to the south (Note on islet: I’ve just learned this word! Islet = isolotto in Italian).
Together they are just 20 hectares (50 acres), and they represent a major local tourist attraction for their picturesque setting.
Their name derives from the Borromeo family, which started acquiring them in the early 16th century (Isola Madre) and still owns Isola Madre, Isola Bella and the Islet of San Giovanni.

Isola Madre, the largest of the three, is also noted for its gardens, which have been maintained since about 1823 in an English style. Its palace, though uninhabited, is splendidly furnished with 16th- to 19th-century Italian masterpieces and paintings.

Isola dei Pescatori is now the only inhabited island in the archipelago and do not belong to the family Borromeo. It has a fishing village, hotels, romantic restaurants

The Isolino di San Giovanni is located just off Pallanza town and it’s the official residence of the Count Carlo Ferdinando Borromeo Arese, the head of the family Borromeo.

The tiny uninhabited rock of Malghera, with an area of only 200 square meters (2000 sq feet), lies between Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori and offers bushy vegetation and a small beach.

Isola Bella, was named by Isabella, countess Borromeo.
Today it’s splendid but originally was a largely barren rock;
After first improvements made by count Carlo III in 17th hundred, his son Vitaliano 6th built an attractive summer palace and a system of ten terraces for the gardens.

It took almost four hundred years and the teamwork of hundreds of qualified architects, engineers, plasterers, painters, gardeners who in succession over the centuries have given rise to the extraordinary transformation of Isola Bella from a rock lapped by the waters of the lake into a place of delights.

A treasure chest of Baroque art suspended over the water

Hope you enjoied the video.
Please share, subscribe and dream!

Un bacio.
Sergio