Oggebbio

Information and places of interest

Small town located in the upper Verbano area, between Ghiffa and Cannero Riviera, with just 800 inhabitants, but which extends over an area of 20 kmq.
For the locals, the etymology of the toponym Oggebbio derives from the Latin “Eugebium” with the meaning of “Land of the sweet life” from the composition of three Greek words: “Eu” (good), “Ghe” (land) and “Bios” (life).
The municipality of Oggebbio includes 17 small villages that are distributed on the shore of Lake Maggiore and on a gentle plateau halfway up the mountain:
- SPASOLO: the ancient port, equipped with a hospice for travellers in the 14th century, was for a long time the site of intense lake traffic.
- RESEGA: it owes its toponym to the fact that before 1600 there was a water saw for the manufacture of glass; later, it became a mill, always powered by water, which the entire nearby population used to grind flour.
For years it was also home to the “Ice Factory”, which later became a bottling plant for “Fonte Brunella” mineral water.
- BARBÉ: located at 350 m above sea level, vegetables and grapes were once grown there to make the typical “American” wine, with a low alcohol content, a rather sour taste, but pleasant to drink chilled in the summer months.
- RANCONE: located at 320 m above sea level, it can only be reached on foot from a single road; a village with a marked rural imprint where the ruins of the ancient houses of the Pedroni family can be found, whose head of the family, Captain Pedroni, died in the Moscow retreat of 1812.
- CADESSINO: of interest is the oratory of the Nativity of Mary dating back to the 15th century.
- QUARCINO: fifty years ago, several cableways from the surrounding mountains had their arrival point, transporting large quantities of wood that was sold.
- MOZZOLA: olive trees were grown here.
- GONTE: the municipal capital and the main activities are located here: schools, town hall, parish church, pharmacy and various commercial activities.
- PIAZZA: it owes its name to the fact that it arose by developing around a natural terrace; a well-preserved wash house and a fountain date back to the mid-1800s.
- DUMERA: it can be reached by following a convenient mule track west of Piazza.
- PIEGGIO: it juts out onto the lake just above the port and the town of Spasolo.
- TRAVALLINO: Dr. Giovanni Polli was born in this hamlet and, in 1876, he performed the first human cremation in Europe at the monumental cemetery in Milan.
- CADEVECCHIO: derives its name from “Casa dei vecchi” because it is possible to admire ancient houses.
- CAMOGNO: the name seems to derive from “Casa dei monaci”, there is in fact an ancient building that was a monastic seat.
- NOVAGLIO: on the hill overlooking the lake, stands the oratory of S. Agata restored in the 60s; this small church preserves the Romanesque layout with the addition of Gothic and Renaissance elements.
- PIANCAVALLO: for fifty years the Italian Auxological Institute has been present (at an altitude of 1250 m), a foundation for research and treatment in the biomedical field of international importance. Continuing, just over 2 km away, is Alpe Colle, a crossroads along the routes of the Cadorna Line.
- MANEGRA: it is located at 900 m above sea level, along the road that connects Premeno to Piancavallo, and is immersed in a chestnut forest, some of which are centuries-old.

PLACES OF INTEREST

- PARISH CHURCH OF SAN PIETRO: located in the hamlet of Gonte, it is mentioned in some documents as early as the 12th century, as the Chapel of the Pieve di San Vittore in Intra, from which it separated in 1606.
The parish is divided into three naves, with the ceiling covered with frescoes that narrate the life of Jesus and preserves a precious crucifix from 1712.
The bell tower, at 42 m high, is the tallest in Verbano.

- ORATORY OF THE NATIVITY OF MARY: located in the hamlet of Cadessino, it dates back to the 15th century; the plan has a single nave and ends in a polygonal choir.
An element of fine workmanship is the large cycle of 15th-century frescoes.
Outside, the square-plan bell tower, in Romanesque style, was built between the 11th and 12th centuries and has been declared a National Monument.

- ORATORY OF SANT’AGATA: located in Novaglio, it has a Romanesque layout with the addition of Gothic and Renaissance elements.
According to a legend, it is thought that the oratory is one of the one hundred churches built in the 4th century by San Giulio and San Giuliano who spread Christianity in the lands of Novara and Verbano. The oratory underwent modifications between the 17th and 18th centuries, including the reversal of its orientation.

- VILLA ANELLI: located in the Gonte hamlet, it has a private garden, built in 1872, of great landscape architecture from the Romantic period, and today contains a rich collection of camellias recognized worldwide.

- VILLA SOLITUDE: located on the lakeside of Oggebbio, in classic style, it is immersed in a large park or 44,000 square meters.
It was the home of the famous professor Giovanni Polli, who carried out in-depth studies on blood and experiments on the purification of corpses with fire, through cremation, in the villa.

- VILLA DRANEHT-ZERVUDACHI: it is one of the most imposing residences on Lake Maggiore, purchased by the very rich Pasha Draneht and to whom we owe the Arab taste with which the immense park of the villa was embellished.
Built in the second half of the 19th century, but modified in the 1920s at the behest of the Pasha, it maintains the planimetric layout consisting of a massive block that rises for three floors above ground, resting on an imposing base composed in turn of two floors and surmounted by the attic.
A local tradition says that Giuseppe Verdi, a guest of the villa, drew inspiration from it for the composition of Aida.

- CADORNA LINE: system of military fortifications built during the First World War, commissioned by the homonymous general from Verbania Luigi Cadorna, between Lake Maggiore and Mount Massone, designed to defend Italy from a possible Austrian and German invasion from Switzerland.
The fortifications include a dense network of military mule tracks, trenches, artillery positions, lookout points, hospitals and logistics structures.
The line, which includes part of the municipal territory and Mount Morissolo, with its 1311 m, represents one of the main strongholds and inside it hosts numerous tunnels and rooms that in the past must have housed cannons capable of firing at a distance of 14 km.