Latitude: 45° 53' N
Longitude: 8° 31' E

The island Bella is not too far from the Pescatori's island or Superiore (separated from an uninhabited islet denominated Malghera), in front of Stresa in the gulf Borromeo. In the 1632 Charles III Borromeo started to build above to a naked rock-cliff, lived by about fifty devoted families to the fishing, that then has become the most famous island, initially denominated "Isabella" in honor of his wife, subsequently changed in "Bella". It was built a sumptuous Baroque building characterized from a great saloon of honor from works of art and from tapestries of Flemish origin. A staircase to snail brings in the undergrounds where six artificial caves are found dressed again by mosaics of shells and small stones. The Italian's gardens make it stately, asymmetrical in comparison to the building, composed likewise to a truncates pyramid of ten terraces accompanied by fountains, statues, exotic trees, cypresses, citrus fruit, azaleas, magnolias, camellias that converge in the small plaza of the castle with an exciting view of the lake. To dominate this scenography, centrally, in peak, the unicorn of Borromeo, coat of arms of the homonym lineage. The best period to visit it is among March and October.

go to the previous page go to the islands' menù