Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Lago Maggiore |
Archipelago | Borromean Islands |
Administration | |
Italy | |
Region | Piedmont |
Province | Verbano-Cusio-Ossola |
Isola Madre, at 220 m wide and 330 m long, is the largest island of the Isole Borromee archipelago is in the Italian part of Lake Maggiore in the Alps, in the Province of Verbano Cusio Ossola, Piedmont. The island is occupied by a number of buildings and architectural structures and is known for its gardens. In the past it was known as Isola di San Vittore and later as Isola Maggiore.
The available historical sources indicate that in the middle of the ninth century the island had a church, a cemetery (whose existence is recalled by the current garden’s so-called scala dei morti, or “Staircase of the Dead”). It is known for certain that olives were cultivated here; the produce may have been employed for sacred purposes. In 1014, Emperor Henry II granted the island to the nuns of the monastery of San Felice of Pavia. [1]
In 1501 Lancillotto Borromeo, one of the five children of Giovanni III Borromeo and Cleofe Pio di Carpi, introduced the cultivation of citrus fruit to the island, the plants being brought from Liguria, along with a gardener (or hortolano) to tend them. Lancillotto began the construction of the family residence on the island, which in the 1580s was extended in the Renaissance style by Renato I Borromeo.
The Palazzo Borromeo was built in the sixteenth century on the remains of the early church, cemetery and perhaps castle of San Vittore (named after the martyr Victor Maurus).
The palace is surrounded by impressive gardens, the Giardini Botanici dell'Isola Madre, covering an area of eight hectares whose construction all’Inglese (in the English style) began in the late eighteenth century on the site of a citrus orchard. Particularly prized is the scala dei morti, or staircase of the dead, which in recent decades has been embellished with an important collection of Wisterias.
The family chapel of 1858 is also noteworthy; by contrast to that of Isola Bella, it contains no tombs or funerary monuments.
Lake Maggiore or Verbano is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided between the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy and the Swiss canton of Ticino. Located halfway between Lake Orta and Lake Lugano, Lake Maggiore extends for about 64 kilometres between Locarno and Arona.
Arona is a town and comune on Lake Maggiore, in the province of Novara. Its main economic activity is tourism, especially from Milan, France and Germany.
The Borromean Islands are a group of three small islands and two islets in the Italian part of Lago Maggiore, located in the western arm of the lake, between Verbania to the north and Stresa to the south. Together totalling just 50 acres in area, they are a major local tourist attraction for their picturesque setting.
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Malcesine is a comune (municipality) on the eastern shore of Lake Garda in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 kilometres northwest of Venice and about 40 kilometres northwest of Verona. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
The aristocratic House of Borromeo were merchants in San Miniato around 1300 and became bankers in Milan after 1370. Vitaliano de' Vitaliani, who acquired the name of Borromeo from his uncle Giovanni, became the count of Arona in 1445. His descendants played important roles in the politics of the Duchy of Milan and as cardinals in the Catholic Reformation. In 1916, the head of the family was granted the title Prince of Angera by the King of Italy.
Isola Bella is one of the Borromean islands of Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy. The island is situated in the Borromean Gulf 400 metres from the lakeside town of Stresa. Isola Bella is 320 metres long by 400 metres wide and is divided between the Palace, its Italianate garden, and a small fishing village.
Isola dei Pescatori is an island in Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. As the most northerly of the three principal Borromean Islands it is also known as Isola Superiore and, with a population of 25 in 2018, it is the only one to be inhabited all year round. Unlike Isola Bella and Isola Madre, the island has never belonged to the Borromeo family.
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The Isolino di San Giovanni is a small island belonging to the Borromean group of Lake Maggiore, one of the main subalpine lakes of northern Italy. It is situated some way to the north of the others in the group, 30 metres west of the shoreline of Pallanza, a frazione of Verbania. It is part of the frazione Pallanza.
The Giardini Botanici dell'Isola Madre are historic botanical gardens located on the grounds of Isola Madre in the Borromean Islands of Lake Maggiore, accessible by ferry from Stresa, Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Piedmont, Italy. They are open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged.
Antonio Buzzolla was an Italian composer and conductor. A native of Adria, he studied in Venice, and later worked with Gaetano Donizetti and Saverio Mercadante. He composed five operas, but was better known in his lifetime for ariettas and canzonettas in the Venetian dialect. Beginning in 1855 he served as the maestro di cappella of the Cappella Marciana at St Mark's Basilica in Venice. Buzzolla was one of the composers invited by Giuseppe Verdi to contribute to the Messa per Rossini; he composed the opening movement, the Requiem e Kyrie. He died in Venice in 1871 and was interred at the San Michele cemetery on the Isola di San Michele in Venice.
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The Rocca Borromeo di Angera, or Rocca d'Angera, also called Borromeo Castle, is a rocca on a hilltop above the town of Angera in the Province of Varese on the southern shores of Lago Maggiore. It has medieval origins and initially belonged to the Milanese archbishop. It passed then to the Visconti of Milan and later to the Borromeos, who are still the owners.
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