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Stresa

 

Information and places of interest

Thanks to its location on the western coast of the Borromean Gulf and its elegant lakeside promenade featuring luxurious hotels and historic homes, Stresa is a famous lakeside tourist resort.
The territory of Stresa is divided into four parts:
- the coastal part, overlooking Lake Maggiore, includes the historic center of Stresa and the hamlet of Carciano;
- the insular part includes three of the Borromean islands (Madre, Bella, Pescatori);
- the hilly part includes a series of hamlets overlooking Lake Maggiore (Levo, Binda, Campino, Passera, Someraro, Vedasco, Brisino and Magognino);
- the mountainous part includes the popular Mottarone ski resort, the mountain pastures below the eastern side of the mountain and the Alpinia Botanical Garden.

 

 

PLACES OF INTEREST
 

- CHURCH OF SAINTS AMBROGIO AND THEODULO: built in 1790 in neoclassical style.
 

- COLLEGIO ROSMINI: built in the second half of the 19th century. The neoclassical church of S. Crocifisso houses the tombs of the philosopher and theologian Antonio Rosmini and the poet Clemente Rebora.
 

- PALAZZO BOLONGARO: dating back to the end of the 18th century, it has been home to the International Centre for Rosminian Studies since 1966 and offers visitors a cultural, historical and artistic heritage linked to the person of Antonio Rosmini.
 

- PRE-ROMANIC STELE: in Levo in 1877, during the construction of a building, some tombs with terracotta-ornamental furnishings and five tombstones in Lepontian-Ligurian and Latin characters were found. Three of these steles, dating back to the 1st century BC, can be admired in the ORATORY OF SS. GIACOMO E FILIPPO.
 

- VILLA PALLAVICINO: built as a private residence in 1855, in 1862 it passed to the Pallavicino family who expanded the estate transforming it into a 19th-century neoclassical villa; the descendants of the family decided to transform the garden into a WILDLIFE MUSEUM open to the public; initially the fauna was native, later it became a very varied zoological complex with animals from every corner of the world.
 

- PALLAVICINO PARK: it is famous above all for the over 50 species that live here, including mammals and birds. Many of the animals were already here when the management of the park passed to the Borromeo family, such as zebras, kangaroos, coatis, Antigone cranes and flamingos. Some were added later, such as the Orobic goats, the “Bellavista” mule, the alpacas, the donkeys, the ferrets, the Polverara chickens, and others were recovered by the veterinarian responsible for the Park's fauna and the contact for the recovery of wild animals.
The farm: here Tibetan and stone-skipper goats, sheep, llamas, alpacas and deer live freely, looking for a caress from visitors. An area strongly desired to make possible a true, playful but also educational encounter in respect and trust between human beings and animals.
 

- ALPINIA BOTANICAL GARDEN: located in Alpino, a hamlet of the Municipality of Stresa at an altitude of 800 meters, it overlooks a beautiful panoramic view of Lake Maggiore. This splendid balcony is equipped with a Belvedere Hut, where you can sit and rest on the comfortable benches while enjoying the enchanting view.
The Alpinia route is circular, the two initial paths join: on the left you first pass through the woods, while on the right from the main flower garden you directly access the panoramic view.
Along the route, halfway through the Garden, there is a natural water source coming from the summit of Mottarone, a very pure and refreshing water in the summer months.
This garden offers more than 700 different species of plants, most are alpine, but it is possible to find species from the East and America.
The symbolic flower of Alpinia is the Gentian, an alpine flower with a characteristic purple-blue color, a small, rare and wonderful bell-shaped flower.
 

- MUSEUM OF THE UMBRELLA and PARASOL: located in Gignese, a town halfway between Stresa and Mottarone (1491 m above sea level).
The museum is located in a two-story building reproducing the shape of three umbrellas placed side by side and houses about 1500 pieces including handles, sticks, umbrellas and parasols and tells the story of the evolution of fashions that have influenced the style of these accessories from the 19th century to today.
It also includes historical pieces, umbrellas belonging to painters, cardinals, as well as the parasol of Queen Margherita, whose family used to spend their holidays in Stresa. In the section of the Museum dedicated to the life of the Umbrella Makers, it is possible to admire the rudimentary tools of the ancient workshops, in a journey of memories through the faces, tools, and places of work that have characterized the production of umbrellas. A historical itinerary full of images, testimonies and curiosities of an ancient job that the umbrella makers born in Vergante have been able to make known and appreciated throughout the world.
The rational display cases house about 200 examples, those that more precisely allow the visitor to follow the evolution of types and fashions from the early 1900s to the present day.
On the ground floor, various roofing materials are visible, as well as wooden and metal slats and shafts and those made with precious materials, with ivory, hand-painted enamels or mother-of-pearl.
On the upper floor of the Museum, it is possible to see fashion photos and historical documents that describe the use of parasols, umbrellas and everything related to the trade of umbrella artisans.

 

 

BORROMEAN ISLANDS
 

The archipelago of the Borromean Islands is located in the middle of Lake Maggiore, to the west, in the arm of the lake called the Borromean Gulf that overlooks Stresa and Pallanza.
The archipelago is made up of three islands, a small island and a rock:
 

- ISOLA MADRE: emerged already in the ice age, it is the largest of the archipelago and is occupied by some buildings and especially gardens. Among the monuments, the BORROMEO PALACE stands out, built in the 16th century on the remains of the original church and its eight-hectare English garden, designed on a previous citrus grove, productive until the end of the 18th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the garden was transformed into a romantic garden. Almost all the terraces on the island disappeared, making way for perspective views framed by tall trees. The crops also changed and rare and exotic plants were introduced. The greenhouses were later built (1826) and the family chapel, commissioned starting in 1858.
The Borromeo family defined the future of Isola Madre between the 1960s and 1980s: the palace (sumptuously furnished with furniture and works of art from the Villa Borromeo Arese in Cesano Maderno) and the vast gardens were definitively designated for public visits in 1978.
 

- ISOLA BELLA: until 1630 it was a rock inhabited by fishermen, with two small churches and a few vegetable gardens. The Borromeo family, already owners of Isola Madre since 1501, concentrated their interests on the island from the first twenty years of the 17th century, starting the grandiose project that would lead to the creation of the Palace and the garden.
The BORROMEO PALACE, which occupies the north-western coast of the islet, open to visitors, shows halls and rooms on the main floor, built from the 17th to the 19th century, and in the lower part the caves. Worth mentioning is the tapestry gallery, so called for its enormous Flemish tapestries, six in all, from the 16th century, in silk and gold, whose recurring theme is the Unicorn, emblem of the Borromeo family. In the very particular rooms of the caves, covered with stones and shells of an infinite variety of types, the archaeological remains of the prehistoric Golasecca Culture are collected. Also worth mentioning are the BOTANICAL GARDENS, with an incredible variety of exotic plants, built between 1631 and 1671 approximately. The Teatro Massimo is the most important monument in the Isola Bella garden, with its statues, obelisks and fountains that integrate perfectly with the vegetation of the ten scenic terraces, on whose tops stands the statue of the Unicorn, the heraldic symbol of the Borromeo family. All around the Theater, a riot of blooms and rare plants: the centuries-old Camphor, the Gunnera manicata, whose leaves can reach 2 meters in diameter, the very fragrant Olea Fragrans, the very rare Halesia Diptera with its flowers that look like snowflakes, the Star Anise, the Mexican Pine.
The Azalea Parterre is enchanting during the flowering period and the Garden of Love is a joy for the eyes, composed of woodland hedges that create a green embroidery visible from the top of the terraces.
Camellias, rose espaliers in May, oleanders in June, and citrus and hydrangeas in midsummer light up the Italian garden of Isola Bella, where white peacocks live freely.
 

- ISOLA DEI PESCATORI: the only one in the archipelago to be permanently inhabited. The island is home to a small village, with characteristic multi-storey houses, with long balconies for drying fish, with a small square, characteristic narrow alleys, the lakeside and the main street to allow travel strictly on foot.
Inhabited for at least 700 years, the island has a parish dedicated to San Vittore and a tree-lined belvedere on the opposite side. The church was originally a chapel, dating back to the 11th century, of which the small arch is preserved. It was enlarged in Gothic style and in the Renaissance period, when the original apse became a simple chapel.
 

- ISOLINO SAN GIOVANNI: it is known for having been the residence, between 1927 and 1952, of the conductor Arturo Toscanini who lived there in the seventeenth-century PALAZZO BORROMEO.
 

- SCOGLIO DELLA MALGHERA: small island located halfway between Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori.

 

 

STRESA AND LAKE MAGGIORE MUSIC WEEKS
 

The Stresa Music Weeks were born in 1961 on the initiative of Italo Trentinaglia, a noble Venetian lawyer, driven to take up music, not by personal interests, but because he had always lived in contact with music.
During a stay at the family villa in Stresa, Italo developed the idea of ​​creating an annual event, which could make Stresa the home of one of those international classical music festivals that made some of the most beautiful places in Europe famous. On 27 August 1962, the Stresa Musical Weeks were inaugurated by a concert by the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala.
After its debut at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Stresa, on Isola Bella in the Salone degli Arazzi and at the Loggia del Cashmere in the gardens of Isola Madre, the Festival then gradually broadened its horizons, taking its concerts to new historic locations and thus allowing music to be combined with art and the settings of the place. Since 1999, the Festival has taken on the new name of “Stresa and Lake Maggiore Musical Weeks”; among the locations involved, the Hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso in Leggiuno, the Auditorium “La Fabbrica” in Villadossola, the Visconti Castle in Vogogna, the Rocca Borromea in Angera, Villa Ponti in Arona, Villa San Remigio and the Church of Madonna di Campagna in Verbania, the Old Church of Belgirate and the Basilica of San Giulio in Orta.