For all its popularity with Italians and foreigners alike, Lake Orta has managed to retain a certain mystique. This driving tour will transport you to a dreamy pocket of Piedmont, the highlights of which are the medieval village of Orta San Giulio and the Isola San Giulio in the centre of the lake.
DISTANCE: 85km (53 miles), returning via Gravellona Toce
TIME: A full day
START/END: Stresa
POINTS TO NOTE: Avoid Orta on Sundays when coachloads of visitors descend on the village. If you are thinking of a meal at Villa Crespi , be sure to reserve. Note that the village of Orta San Giulio is closed to traffic during the season, and cars must be left in the paying parking lots above the centre.
Separated from Lake Maggiore by the Mottarone peak, Orta is the westernmost of the lakes. Just 14km (9 miles) long and 3km (2 miles) wide, it is tiny in comparison to lakes Maggiore, Como or Garda. It is not so much the scenery that makes it unmissable, but the village of Orta San Giulio and the picturesque little Isola San Giulio.
Between lakes Maggiore and Orta, the Mottarone peak commands a wonderful panorama of the lakes and Alps. A road leads up there from Gignese but be warned: you will have to pay several euros to get there, as the last section is a toll road owned by the omnipotent Borromeo family. You can also access the peak on foot.
Orta San Giulio at dusk
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Leaving Stresa by car, follow the signs for Gignese and climb the Mottarone. After 8km (5 miles), you will reach the hill village of Gignese 1 [map], best-known for the Museo dell’Ombrello e del Parasole (Umbrella and Parasol Museum; www.gignese.it/museo; charge), a large collection of fanciful umbrellas, dating to 1850. Continue to Armeno and descend southwest towards Lake Orta and Orta San Giulio.
Take the main approach road, which passes the entrance to the Sacro Monte 2 [map] (Holy Mount; www.sacrimonti.org/en/sacro-monte-di-orta; opening times for the church and grounds vary; free). Leave your car in the higher of the two car parks, which is conveniently situated for access to the pedestrianised historic centre of Orta San Giulio.
Colourful façades, Orta San Giulio
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Sacri Monti are prominent features of this corner of the lakes, and Orta’s is the finest, rivalled only by the one in Varese . Linked to tiny chapels, the Sacri Monti are the climax of Franciscan devotional routes that evoke the symbolic journey through the Holy Land. Set on a wooded hillside, Orta’s route wends through a series of twenty frescoed chapels, with some 400 life-size terracotta statues that trace the history of St Francis. Slate-roofed Renaissance and Baroque chapels are full of devotional paintings and statues by Lombard artists. The route is well worth following for its peaceful atmosphere and misty views. A stop at AgriGelateria is a great way to start or finish your walk, see 1 [map].
Lake Orta
Set snugly on a peninsula, Orta San Giulio 3 [map] has long been a fashionable if discreet resort, known for its chic hotels as much as for its soft light and air of spirituality. Take the atmospheric Via Gemelli from the Sacro Monte to the village. You will emerge outside the Baroque Chiesa dell’Assunta (Church of the Assumption), host of a spring concert festival complete with full historical pageantry. The church commands a dramatic view of the sloping Salita della Motta, which winds down to the main square, passing geranium-bedecked balconies and Renaissance palaces with peach-coloured façades.
Sacro Monte fresco
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Piazza Motta
The descent ends at Piazza Motta by the quaint waterfront. The piazza is lined with outdoor cafés and old-fashioned hotels, including the Leon d’Oro, which has a good restaurant, see 2 [map]. The hub of village life, Piazza Motta is particularly animated during the Wednesday market.
Overlooking the square is the arcaded former town hall, the Palazzo della Comunità, frescoes of which feature a serpent symbol relating to Orta’s mythical origins. This façade is an exception in the town – buildings here tend to be painted in muted shades of ochre, green or pink; white is forbidden.
Take Via Olina, the main thoroughfare, if you want to indulge in some idle window-shopping in the medieval quarter, and perhaps book a table at the Olina restaurant in the Piccolo Hotel, see 3 [map].
Not far away, on Largo de Gregori, you will find Salumeria Rovera, a whimsical salami shop that features somewhat alarming paintings of piglets tucking into a pork feast.
At Orta San Giulio’s picturesque jetty, friendly boatmen guide ferries and motorboats to the Isola di San Giulio 4 [map], a tiny haven of tranquillity and supplication. In the convent (closed to the public) at the heart of the isle, blue-robed Benedictine nuns devote themselves to contemplation, work and prayer.
Chattering visitors clambering out of boats beside the Basilica di San Giulio are soon hushed by the sombre mood of this Romanesque church. The island was supposedly overrun by serpents and dragons until AD390, when Julius, a Christian preacher, succeeded in banishing them, before erecting a basilica in celebration. Fragments of the 5th-century church are visible in the crypt.
Spiritual injunctions
The circular Via Giulino, which hugs the high walls of the nunnery, carries injunctions to follow the right path. In a bid to evoke ‘the island within’, there are two pilgrimage paths: the Way of Meditation and the Way of Silence. The island forsakes its silence only in June, when a festival of ancient music is staged.
After Orta San Giulio, the other towns on the lake come as something of an anticlimax. Nevertheless, if you have time, it is worth taking the short drive to the sanctuary that overlooks the lake.
From Orta San Giulio, head south along the shore towards Gozzano and follow the western shore to San Maurizio d’Opaglio, an area known as ‘tap country’ due to the presence of Italy’s finest tap- and bath-makers. While these manufacturers prospered on orders from Arab sheikhs, Lake Orta suffered pollution from industrial waste. However, in the early 1990s a cleaning programme coincided with a collapse of the gold-tap market, resulting in waters fit for swimming once more.
The magical Isola di San Giulio
Dreamstime
1 [map] AgriGelateria
Via Domodossola 5, Orta San Giulio, 53 434 2866
A perfect spot to beat the heat either before or after your walk to the Sacro. Kids and adults will enjoy the numerous and delicious flavours. Connected to the ice cream shop is a small pizzeria in case you need a little more sustenance. €
2 [map] Leon d’Oro
Piazza Motta 42, Orta San Giulio, www.albergoleondoro.it
An idyllic location with a long shady terrace overlooking Isola San Giulio and a tempting menu of local dishes, including risotto, homemade pasta, fresh lake fish and wonderful puddings. €€€
3 [map] Olina
Via Olina 40, Orta San Giulio, 0322 905656
Make the most of the complimentary aperitivo then tuck into artfully presented local specialities, including vegetarian dishes. €€
Resist the Tap Museum in San Maurizio d’Opaglio in favour of the Santuario della Madonna del Sasso 5 [map] (www.santuariomadonnadelsasso.it; free), which is just 2km (1.25 miles) away, above Pella. Clearly signposted, it is at the heart of a pleasant series of hamlets. The Baroque frescoed church, built on a granite outcrop over the lake, has fine views over mountains and lake.
You can return to Lake Maggiore by continuing along the western shore, passing Pella, Nonio and Omegna, then heading north to Gravellona Toce and returning to Stresa via Baveno. Or return the way you came, through Gignese, dining perhaps at Orta San Giulio before heading back to Stresa.
Villa Crespi
If you have a taste for the exotic this is where you will find the Villa Crespi , a fairytale Moorish fantasy erected in 1879 by a local cotton merchant inspired by his travels to Baghdad and Persia. The villa is situated out of the medieval centre, at the entrance to the town, so parking is easy.