Isola Bella (''lit.'' 'beautiful island') is one of the

Borromean Islands The Borromean Islands (It. ''Isole Borromee'') are a group of three small islands and two islets in the Italian part of Lago Maggiore, located in the western arm of the lake, between Verbania to the north and Stresa to the south. Together totalling ...

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

in North

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 ...

. The island is situated in the Borromean Gulf 400 metres from the lakeside town of

Stresa Stresa is a town and ''comune'' of about 4,600 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, about northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Simp ...

. Isola Bella is 320 metres long by 400 metres wide and is divided between the Palace, its

Italianate garden The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

, and a small fishing village.

History

Until 1632 the island—known only as ''l’isola inferiore'' or ''isola di sotto''The geographically “lower” island concerning its northern neighbour, Isola dei Pescatori, the ''isola superiore''. Se
Pro Loco di Isola dei Pescatori
—was a rocky crag occupied by a tiny fishing village: but that year Carlo III of the influential

House of Borromeo ), type= Noble family, country=, estates= Rocca d'Angera Palazzo Borromeo, Milan Castel of Peschiera BorromeoBorromean Islands Villa Borromeo, Arcore, titles=* Prince of Angera * Marquess of Romagnano * Count of Arona * Count of Peschiera * Lor ...

began the construction of a

palazzo A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

dedicated to his wife, Isabella D'Adda, from whom the island takes its name. He entrusted the works to the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

ese Angelo Crivelli, who was also to be responsible for planning the gardens. The works were interrupted around midcentury when the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

was struck by a devastating outbreak of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

. Construction resumed when the island passed to Carlo’s sons, Cardinal Giberto III (1615–1672) and Vitaliano VI (1620–1690); the latter in particular, with the financial backing of his elder brother, entrusted the completion of the works to the Milanese architect

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634 or 1638–1714) was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture. Biography There seems to be no proof tha ...

and turned the villa into a place of sumptuous parties and theatrical events for the nobility of Europe. The completion of the gardens, however, was left to his nephew Carlo IV (1657–1734). They were inaugurated in 1671. The island achieved its highest level of social success during the period of Giberto V Borromeo (1751–1837) when guests included

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, i ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

and his wife

Joséphine de Beauharnais Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States * Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Co ...

, and

Caroline of Brunswick Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Caroline Amelia Elizabeth; 17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) was Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821, being the estranged wife of King George IV. She was Pri ...

, the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was fi ...

. It is said that Caroline, having fallen in love with the place, did her best to convince the Borromeo family to sell her Isola Madre or the

Castelli di Cannero The Castelli di Cannero are three rocky islets of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. They are located off the shoreline of Cannero Riviera while administratively forming part of the Comune of Cannobio. They are known as ''castelli'', or castles, i ...

islands; her request being turned down, she established herself on the banks of

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

Cernobbio Cernobbio (Comasco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Como, Lombardy, northern Italy. It is located about north of Milan and about northwest of Como, on the border with Switzerland and near the Lake Como. The highest peak is t ...

in the Villa d’Este. A conference of high representatives of Italy, France, and the United Kingdom was held in the palace at Isola Bella in April 1935, resulting in the agreement known as the Stresa Front.

The island today

Isola Bella is a popular tourist attraction, with a regular ferry service from Stresa, Laveno, Pallanza, and Intra. It plays host to the annual Stresa music festival.

Notes

References

:''This article was originally translated from the

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia ( it, Wikipedia in italiano) is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of , , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is t ...

’s Isola Bella, as retrieved 13:17, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
Storia dell'Isola Bella
(Cited by the Italian Wikipedia article.)

History

The island today

Notes

References

Further reading