Iso Bella and Isola Pescatori

Isola Bella, Isola Pescatori

A short boat ride from a mooring in front of our hotel at Stresa took us to Isola Bella, the beautiful island.  This is one of the Borromean Islands in Lake Maggiori, home to the Borromea family.  Our visit is to take in a tour of the palace, and Italianate villa, highly visible on the island and from the mainland.  Its terraced gardens are famous.  Construction began in the 1600s and the building and gardens were added to by each succeeding family member. 

The rooms are decorated in rococo style, highly ornate, with tall ceilings adorned with symbols of the family;  the unicorn, the camel, and the horse bit, with the family motto being ‘humilitas’ after that of the family saint who was known for his good works, Saint Charles Borremea.  Rooms of interest include the library, the music room, and Napoleon’s bedroom.  The family endured an unannounced visit from Napoleon in 1797.  On his departure, some rooms were found to be ‘dirty and foul smelling’.   An impressive dome, seen from the inside but not the outside was built later because domes were for churches and not for private homes.  Another gallery houses a collection of allegorical Flemish tapestries from 1565.  These contain scenes of animals interacting in forest and streams, with Christian references to sin and redemption.

Beneath the palace is a series of grottos, the walls and vaulted ceilings dotted with pumice stone and coral.  The term grotto comes from the word ‘grotesque’ and was said to have been coined by Napoleon who demanded lunch in the grotto rooms. The third grotto, dubbed the massage room, has a life-size model of Venus asleep naked by Giovan Battista Monti.  The gentlemen in the group were assured by the guide that if they lingered for a while they might just see the Venus turn over.

Our next stop was the Isola Pescatori, where we were to have lunch.  A walk around the outside of the island led us to a small café operating on the outside edge.  We saw an isolated table on the opposite side of the walk, a bucolic setting with long grass and ivy covered walls.  We don’t think this was where we were supposed to sit, but it worked for us, and we were comfortable there.  As different members of the group walked past, there was an interesting array of comments, such as, “Is this the stalls?”  A local Italian however, noted as he went past, “paradise”.  We liked this.

Looking back to Iso Bella

We had a free afternoon, spent washing and sleeping, then walked into Stresa to shop and dine.  We had returned to a ceramic shop with hand-painted plates.  Doug wanted to buy up the whole store, but getting the heavy ceramics home might have been a problem.