Orta San Giulio is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Novara Novara (It. ''Provincia di Novara'') is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Novara. In 1992, the new Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola was created through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previou ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, located about northeast of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and about northwest of

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

The town itself is built on a promontory which juts out from the eastern bank of

Lake Orta Lake Orta (Italian: ''Lago d’Orta'') is a lake in northern Italy, west of Lake Maggiore. It has been so named since the 16th century, but was previously called Lago di San Giulio, after Saint Julius (4th century), the patron saint of the regi ...

close to Isola San Giulio, an island which also falls within the municipal boundaries. The ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' Legro stands on the hill which rises behind the promontory, Corconio is some further south, and again away from the lake, while Imola consists of a small number of dwellings between the two, but close to the lake on the road leading to Gozzano. The municipality borders on

Pettenasco Pettenasco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. It lies on the eastern shore of Lake Orta. As of 31 December 2004, it had a p ...

to the north,

Miasino Miasino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 950 and an area of .All demographic ...

and

Ameno Ameno may refer to: *Ameno, Italy, a comune in the Province of Novara, Piedmont, Italy *Lacco Ameno, a town and comune situated in the northwest of the island of Ischia, in the Gulf of Naples, Italy * "Ameno" (song), a song by musical project Era ...

to the east,

Bolzano Novarese Bolzano Novarese (Piedmontese: ''Bolsan'', Lombard: ''Bulzan'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. Bolzano Novarese borders ...

and Gozzano to the south, and

San Maurizio d'Opaglio San Maurizio d'Opaglio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara. San Maurizio d'Opaglio borders the following municipalities: Goz ...

and

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

to the west across the lake. It is well known for the nearby Sacro Monte, which is a site of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

and worship and, like the town itself and the island, is a popular destination for fairly small-scale

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. In 2003, the Sacro Monte of Orta was inserted by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in the

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

. In May 1882,

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

and

Lou Andreas-Salomé Lou Andreas-Salomé (born either Louise von Salomé or Luíza Gustavovna Salomé or Lioulia von Salomé, russian: link=no, Луиза Густавовна Саломе; 12 February 1861 – 5 February 1937) was a Russian-born psychoanalyst and a ...

, accompanied by her mother and a mutual friend, visited Orta for a few days on their way back from a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

of Italy. The couple visited the Sacro Monte for some hours and Nietzsche fell in love with the charming Russian. Salomé could not afterwards remember if she had kissed the philosopher and she was not in love with him, a fact which caused him much anguish.

Villa Crespi

Villa Crespi is a 19th-century Moorish revival-style rural palace located in Orta, and is now a luxury hotel and restaurant managed by chef and restaurateur

Antonino Cannavacciuolo Antonino Cannavacciuolo (born 16 April 1975) is an Italian chef, restaurateur, writer and television personality. Restaurants * Villa Crespi, Orta San Giulio * Cannavacciuolo Café & Bistrot (Novara) * Bistrot Cannavacciuolo (Torino) * Canna ...

. The villa used to be Crespi's family holiday home. Cristoforo Benigno Crespi, the owner who commissioned this wonderful mansion, wanted the villa to remind him of the buildings he saw during his working trips to the Middle East. Therefore this majestic three-floored villa also includes a minaret-looking tower overlooking the lake. In 1914 it was the location for the film Iwna, the Ganges' pearl (original title Iwna, la perla del Gange) by Giuseppe Pinto. (Info by the Dizionario del Turismo Cinematografico)

Sacro Monte

The Sacro Monte of Orta is located within a historical park, which now is a nature reserve, of 13 hectares. It includes: * 21 votive chapels dating back to the end of the 16th and 17th centuries with frescoes and terracotta sculptures narrating the life of Saint Francis of Assisi; * 370 real dimension polychrome statues of terracotta realized by the best artists of the Lombard school, who also worked on Milan's Duomo; * over 900 frescoes creating real theatrical representations. The devotional path ends with the Church of Saint Francis and Nicolao, a proto-Romanic building that was then remodelled in the 17th century so that it would resemble the Lower Basilica of Assisi. Sacro Monte of Orta was inspired by the nearby Sacro Monte of Varallo, which dates back to the end of the 15th century.

References

External links

Official website

Official website for Sacro Monte

Official website Isola San Giulio

3 spherical panoramas of Orta San Giulio

WEBCAM Orta San Giulio live

News and Events on Orta Lake
Car-free zones in Europe Populated places on Lake Orta {{Novara-geo-stub