Isola Bella
Isola Bella is a luxuriously landscaped island park located on Lake Lago Maggiore in northern Italy. Isola Bella is part of the five picturesque Borromean Islands and is the most popular with tourists. Its name means “beautiful island” in Italian.”
Video: Bella Island
Background
Originally, this island was an unremarkable rocky stretch of land inhabited by local fishermen. In 1632, Count Vitaliano VI Borromeo wished to give his wife Isabella an expensive gift and began to build a palace and park on the island. The Count’s plans were so extensive that the construction stretched for many years and was completed only by the middle of the last century. It is noteworthy that the luxurious estate still belongs to the Borromeo family.
.Nowadays Isola Bella resembles a large ship. The Count’s Palace is located in its bow, while the stern is occupied by a beautiful terraced garden. There is now a museum in the palace and a marina next to it where excursion boats and private boats dock.
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The Bella Island Landscape Garden is considered the best example of a baroque park in Italy. It is terraced and decorated with picturesque niches, marble shells, obelisks, sculptures and fountains. In the garden there is a large statue of a unicorn, considered the heraldic symbol of the Borromeo family. Skillful gardeners have planted here such plants that blooming on the island does not stop from early spring to mid-autumn. The garden has no symmetrical layout and its structure is completely determined by the topography of the island. From the side of the palace, the entrance to the park part starts from the Diana Atrium. Gentle paths wind through the Garden of Love, the Massimo Theater, the Terrace of Camphor and the Alley of Bitter Oranges. Visitors can visit the Azalea Flower Garden, Western Alley and Belvedere Alley.
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