The
Social Event will take place on Tuesday 27th,
starting at 16:00.
Lago Maggiore is
one of the most charming places in Northern
Italy, and the ETS’08 social event will let you taste the
flavours of
the history and the good life that mix together in the neighbourhood of
Pallanza. Starting from Pallanza, we will cruise on the lake with the
typical boats servicing visitors travelling on Lago Maggiore. The
captains of our boats will guide us to three of the most attractive
places on the lake: hermitage
of Santa Caterina del Sasso, Isola Bella,
and Isola dei Pescatori.
The peculiar
fascination of the hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso is due to the
astonishing position on a rocky overhang, in one of the deepest points
of the Lago Maggiore.
Santa Caterina del Sasso
The
hermitage is formed by three different
buildings dating from the XIII-XIV centuries.
A legend tells that it was originated by a previous chapel dedicated to
S. Caterina from Alessandria, which was erected in 1100
thanks to the intercession of
the Saint herself by Alberto
Besozzi of Arolo, a
rich businessman who outlived from a downfall and therefore retired in
that place as an eremite.
Today
the complex is made up of different
buildings, juxtaposed in the gothic and Renaissance periods, linked
through hanging balconies: the S. Caterina of Alessandria chapel, the
church of S. Maria Nova, the church of S. Nicola (XIV C), the bell
tower (XI C).
Isola Bella is
one of the Borromean Islands of Lago Maggiore. Isola Bella is 320
meters
long by 400 meters wide and is entirely occupied by the Palazzo
Borromeo and its Italian garden. Until 1632 the island was occupied by
a tiny fishing village: but that year Carlo III of the influential
House of Borromeo began the construction of a palazzo dedicated to his
wife, Isabella D'Adda, from whom the island takes its name.
Isola Bella
The
works continued for decades since then, and both the palace and the
garden were finally inaugurated in 1671. The island achieved its
highest level of social success during the period of Gilberto V
Borromeo (1751 – 1837) when guests included Edward Gibbon,
Napoleon and
his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, and Caroline of
Brunswick, the
Princess of Wales.
Isola
dei Pescatori (Fishermen’s Island) is the
most northerly of the three principal Borromean Islands and, with
a population of about 50, it is the only one to be inhabited
all year
round. Unlike Isola Bella and Isola Madre, the island no longer belongs
to the Borromeo family. A narrow street running along its spine is
joined by cobbled alleys to the promenade which encircles the
island. The promenade is frequently flooded and the houses built
against it are constructed to allow for this. While the traditional
occupation of fishing still exists—local restaurants
providing a ready
market for the fish—tourism has become central to the
economic life of
the island as its picturesque charms have made Isola dei Pescatori a
popular destination.
Isola
dei Pescatori
On
the island we will enjoy a typical dinner at
the Hotel Verbano.
This small and romantic house will welcome us for a
peaceful stay, rocked by the sweet atmosphere of the lake, plunged in a
world that seems unreal, almost magic at the break of day, when the
lapping of the waves of the lake is light and constant like an ancient
lullaby.
