Page 158 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Milan & The Lakes

156  THE LAKES OF NOR THERN IT AL Y

R Basilica di San Giulio
Isola di San Giulio. APTL, ring road,
Orta San Giulio (0322-90 56 14).
Open Easter–Sep: 9:30am–6pm daily;
Oct–Easter: 11am–6pm Mon.
R Sacro Monte
Via Sacro Monte. Tel 0322-91 19
60. Chapels: Open summer:
8:30am–6:30pm daily; winter:
9am–4:30pm daily (5pm hols).
Closed 1 & 6 Jan, 25, 26 & 31 Dec.
The island of Orta San Giulio on Lago d’Orta E Museo Etnografico e dello
Lago d’Orta Ded icated to St Fran cis, it Strumento Musicale a Fiato
Via Roma, Quarna Sotto.
consists of 20 chapels with Tel 0323-82 63 68. Open Jul–Aug:
n APTL, Via Panoramica, Orta–San
Giulio (0322-90 51 63). £ FS Novara- 17th–18th-century terracotta 2:30–6:30pm Tue–Fri,10:30am–
Domodossola line (848-88 80 88). statues and frescoes. Opposite, 12:30pm, 2:30–6:30pm Sat & Sun.
4 Nav. Lago d’Orta (345-517 00 05). perched over a steep quarry,
is the Madonna del Sasso
Lake Orta, or Cusio, is the sanctuary (1748). Lago di Varese
westernmost lake in the lower On the northern tip of n IAT, Via Romagnosi 9, Varese
Alps region, character ized by the lake is Omegna, whose (0332-28 19 13). £ Ferrovie Nord
soft hills and scenery. Villages medieval quarter boasts the Milano, Milan–Laveno line to Gavirate
are dotted around the lake, late Romanesque collegiate (02-72 49 49 49). 4 Autolinee
along the shore or perched church of Sant’Ambrogio. Varesine (0332-73 11 10).
among green terracing. At Quarna there is the Museo
The Mottarone, a ski resort, Etnografico e dello Strumento This lake basin was created by
and the other mountains Musicale a Fiato, with displays glacial movement during the
sur rounding the lake offer of wind instruments, made Quaternary era. It offers pleasant
attractive hiking trails. in this village for centuries. scenery, with rolling hills and
As far back as the Other interesting villages the Campo dei Fiori massif.
1700s, Orta was a tourist are Vacciago di Ameno, In prehistoric times it was
attraction and many with the Calderara inhabited by a prehistoric
villas were built in large Collection of contem- civilization, the important
parks. The chief town porary art, featuring remains of which were found
is Orta San Giulio, on 327 international on the island of Isolino Virginia
a promontory in the avant-garde works of (which can be reached from
middle of the lake. the 1950s and 1960s; Biandronno), where they are on
The village alley ways Goz zano, with the display at the Museo Preistorico,
wind around Piazza church of San Giuliano a UNESCO heritage site.
Motta, on which Figure on the pulpit, (18th century), Part of the lake shore is now
lies the Palazzetto San Giulio Palazzo Vescovile protected as the Brabbia marsh
della Comunità and the seminary; nature reserve. Not far away, at
(1582) and where the stepped and, lastly, Torre di Buccione. San Cazzago Brabbia, are ice-houses
Motta ascent begins. Opposite Maurizio d’Opaglio has a curious used to conserve fish in the 18th
the square is the island of San attraction: a museum devoted century. On the northern tip of
Giulio, converted to Christianity to the production of taps. the lake, at Voltorre di Gavirate,
by the Greek deacon
Julius, who built the
4th-century basilica.
The church was restored
in the 11th–12th
centuries and has
a 12th-century
Romanesque marble
pulpit and 15th-century
frescoes. Next door is
the Palazzo del Vescovo
(16th–18th century).
The UNESCO World
Heritage site of Sacro
Monte is a sanctuary
built in 1591 on the
rise above Orta. Fishing boats along the shores of the Lago di Varese

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