Lake Orta

Lake Orta is, in fact, 13.5km (8.5 miles) long, and 2.5km (1.5 miles) wide at it widest point. It sits 29Om (95Oft) high, nearly 100m (328ft) above Lake Maggiore and is, at its deepest 143m (469ft) deep. The whole of the lake lies in Novara province in Piedmonte.

The region's name means foot on the mountain, and nowhere is the name more appropriate than at Lake Orta.  It is filled by numerous streams draining down from the mountains that make the bowl in which it sits, and is itself drained by the Strona river that flows into the Toce at Gravellona Toce, and from there into Lake Maggiore.  It is the only lake that drains northward, since the Alps are to the north and the river generally must go south into the Po valley.

The Romans called the lake Cusius, which later became Cusio, this also being the name given to the part of Novara province that surrounds the lake.  To add to the confusion, the lake was at one time – between bveing Cusius and being Orta – known as Lago San Giulio, after its most famous saint. 

The lake can be reached from Gravellona in the north, from Gozzano in the south or, by the very intrepid, over the Mottarone massif on a lane that links Gignese and Armeno which stands on the hill above Pettenasco.  This tour will take the easiest way, a straightforward drive beside the river Strona from Gravellona to Omegna at the northern end of the lake.

Omegna

Omegna is a pleasant enough place, a small industrial town with part of its medieval walls still standing, and the ruins of an old bridge that once spanned the river still visible. Some experts think the bridge is also medieval, but others think the ruins are much older, perhaps even Roman. The old part of the town, particularly part of the lake front, is excellent, having beautiful old houses, some with balconies and outside staircases, and with a fine array of shutters and wrought ironwork.

The view lakewards is beautiful, the gentle curve taking the lake out of sight to the left as the mountains tumble in from the right. Equally good are the views to the valleys of the inflowing and outflowing Strona, each with mountain peaks like the posts of some giant gateway. The inhabitants of the town are proud of these gateways, particularly that through which the Strona flows out. The northward flowing stream that links the lake and the Strona is La Nigoglia, and the townspeople of Omegna say that 'La Nigoglia goes up, and we make the laws', a firm stance for independence beside this most independent of lakes.

Along the Western Shore

From Omegna the lake can be circled in either direction, but it is a good idea to go first along the western shore, to keep the best until last. A road up and away from the lake leads to Quarna Sotto and Quarna Sopra, good villages set among chestnut woods. The first has a very interesting museum of musical instruments.  Stay close to the lake, pass Cesara, again set among woodland, and reach Pella.  Here there is a medieval tower and an equally old bridge, picturesquely set over the Torrente Pellino pouring into the lake.  There is also a fine collection of houses from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with open galleries and porches.

Above Pella is Madonna del Sasso, the name given to a small collection of villages and hamlets.  A visit to the area is very worthwhile and offers fine views of the lake, but the chief reason for a visit is to see the church of that name, set on a rock above the village of Boleto.  It is beautiful, both in construction and setting, and contains some very interesting frescoes of the eighteenth century and some fine earlier artwork: a sixteenth-century painting and seventeenth-century wooden crucifix.

The road from the church has to be retraced to the lakeside road, which continues southward with exciting views across the water to Isola San Giulio and the promontory of Orta behind it.  San Maurizio d'Opaglio is a good holiday resort and is one of Europe's leading centers for the manufacture of bathroom fittings.  This sort of information always raises a smile and an eyebrow but there is, after all, no reason why Italian towns should not make taps. Perhaps it is a surprise that, amid so much scenic splendor, some- thing as mundane as real life should intrude.

Next head for Gozzano, passing, at Luzzara, the Villa Jucker standing in an English-style park, not open to the public, and a fine Romanesque church, the Nativita di Maria.

Isola San Giulio

Isola San Giulio is reached from Orta San Giulio, as the town is known.  It still seems to have an 'other-worldliness', many visitors talking of the dreamy atmosphere of its narrow lanes, churches and piazze.  On the island the basilica of San Giulio is now recognized as the most important Romanesque church in Novara province.  It was built in the ninth century on the site of the hermit's cell, but was altered and restored in the eleventh and seventeenthcenturies. 

Much of what remains dates from the first period of alterations, when the campanile was also built. Within  the basilica there is a treasure house of artwork and architecture, but pride of place is given to a n ambo (pulpit) in black Oira marble which dates from the eleventh or twelfth century.  The three carved lecterns and the pulpit stand, which are sup- ported on four columns, are also masterpieces.

Note too, the interplay of Christian and pagan symbols. The walnut choir stalls are very good, as are some of the painted wooden sculptures. The church preserves a 'monster's bone' said to be from the time of San Giulio (but which is probably a more recent whale bone) and the crypt holds a silver urn which contains the remains of the saint.  Beside the church, the Palazzo dei Vescovi is fourteenth century and today houses a Benedictine monastery.

Elsewhere the island is worth all the time that can be given to its exploration. Its elegant, arcaded houses, narrow alleys and sudden lake views are treasures beyond words.  And on the return journey to the mainland, if the lake is flat calm, and especially if there is a light mist that obscures the western lake shore and softens the focus of the island, just stand and stare. The island seems to float in mid-air, magically suspended, unsure of its position between heaven and earth.

Orta San Giulio

The mainland town of Orta San Giulio is also an excellent place, not least for its view of the island.  At night, when both island and the church of Madonna del Sasso high above it are lit, this is a magical spot.  Here too, there are narrow lanes whose curves and breaks give sudden views of mountains, lakes and occasionally the island.  The town square, Piazza Motta, at the quay, is open and airy, coolly shaded by trees and with a side dominated by the town hall, a sixteenth-century building with frescoed walls, an outside stairway and a tiny campanile breaking through the grey roof like a chimney.  Elsewhere, find more frescoes at Casa Morgarani, called the ‘House of Dwarves’, though the reason for the name has been lost in time.  In searching for that house the visitor will also pass many other which are of interest.

The treasure of the town is the Sacre Monte, which dominates the headland.  The hill is delightfully wooded and has excellent view of the lake.  Through the beech and the pine woods a single path threads its way, passing twenty-one chapels, chiefly from the early seventeenth century, but one that has only recently been completed.  Inside these are a total of 376 lifesize terracotta statues by a number of sculptors, illustrating incidents from the life of St. Francis of Assisi to whom the Sacre Monte is dedicated.

At the top of the hill is a building comprising two small oratories and the remains of a monastery which contains a Gothic wooden Madonna.  Expert opinion differs slightly about which of the chapels are the best, but all agree that numbers eleven and sixteen are excellent.  Chapel number fifteen is on a terrace from which the view is expansive.  Beside the Sacre Monte, the secular is represented in sumptious style by the Villa Crespi Hotel.

Close to Orta San Giulio

On the hillsides above Orta San Giulio are some good villages: Miasino with fine seventeenth and eighteenth- century build- ngs and a really good baroque church; Armeno, also with a good church, and Ameno, a village clustered around a Romanesque campanile.  In the nearby hamlet of Vicciago is a collection of paintings and sculpture, chiefly by the artist Antonio Calderara who died there in 1978, but including European, American and oriental work. The collection is in a superb house with triple tiers of porticoed balconies.

The Hotel L' Approdo sits on the lakeshore village of Pettenasco and is run by the same owners as the Villa Crespi.  With a pretty lakefront and a very impressive, viaduct taking the lake-edge railway line over the Torrente Pesco, it is a wonderful place to visit.   Beyond is the Punta di Crabbia, a small headland so positioned that virtually the whole of the lake can be seen from it, the gentle curves in both directions melting into the enclosing mountains.  From this point, the lake road goes back again to Omegna.