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San Giulio Island or St. Julius Island ( it, Isola di San Giulio) is an
Comune di Orta San Giulio
{{authority control Islands of Piedmont Geography of Province of Novara Lake islands of Italy Lake Orta Orta San Giulio
San Giulio Island or St. Julius Island ( it, Isola di San Giulio) is an island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
within 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 ...
in Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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, northwestern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. The island is long (north/south), and is wide (east/west). The most famous building on the island is the Basilica di San Giulio close to which is the monumental old seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
(1840s). Since 1976 it has been transformed into a Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
.
The little island, just west of the lakeshore village of Orta San Giulio
Orta San Giulio is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Novara.
The town itself is built on a promontory which juts out from t ...
, has very picturesque buildings and takes its name from a local patron saint (Julius of Novara
Julius of Novara ( it, Giulio di Orta), also Julius of Aegina (died 401 AD) was a missionary priest to northern Italy.
His cult is centred at Lake Orta in the Novarese highlands, and in particular on the island which has been named for him since ...
), who lived in the second half of the 4th century. The Church of San Giulio, Castellanza
The church of San Giulio is located in Castellanza, Varese, Northern Italy. It was built in the 20th century. The church is named after the saint Julius of Novara, also known as Giulio, who was a priest in the 4th century that was devoted to co ...
, which is located in Castellanza, Varese, northern Italy, was named after the island.
History
In the 5th century, a small chapel (oratory) was erected on the island, probably to commemorate the evangelizer Saint Julius, who had died there. From archaeological finds, it is known that a new, larger church already existed in the 6th century: here Filacrio, the bishop ofNovara
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 ...
, asked to be buried.
Around the same time, an octagonal
In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon.
A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
building - probably a baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...
- was erected in the middle of the island. Every trace of it disappeared in the 19th century when the massive building of the seminary was built. In the 12th century, a new romanesque basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
was built, thus altering the previous one to some extent.
The religious reformer William of Volpiano
Saint William of Volpiano (Italian: ''Guglielmo da Volpiano''; French: ''Guillaume de Volpiano'', also of Dijon, of Saint-Benignus, or of Fécamp; June/July 962 – 1 January 1031) was a Northern Italian monastic reformer, composer, and founding ...
(Saint William of Dijon) was born on the island in 962, in the fortified castle located on the island, whose large walls were called " Queen Willa's walls" from the name of king Berengario II's wife.
External links
*Comune di Orta San Giulio{{authority control Islands of Piedmont Geography of Province of Novara Lake islands of Italy Lake Orta Orta San Giulio