Lake Maggiore

www.kanaloa55.com
David & Valerie Dobson
Fri 11 Sep 2009 11:47

LAKE MAGGIORE

 

DSC04323 Lake Maggiore R.jpg

 

A quick two night stop at Lake Maggiore was our next destination - David had not been there since he was sixteen, and I had never been to any of the Italian Lakes!  I had not realised that the small islands opposite were privately owned by rich industrial millionaires at the time.

DSC04315 Isolla Bella R.jpg 

Isola Bella with Borromeo Palace and Gardens

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One of them houses the palace and gardens of Borromeo, built in the 1750's. 

DSC04249Borromeo Gardens R.jpg

 

The magnificent Italianate garden was so beautiful and classical in its proportions, I was quite amazed that it had been originally designed by a Scotsman! 

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The Palace's claim to fame was that Bonaparte and Josephine were there during his Italian Campaign for a Holiday, and that the Peace Treaty just before the 2nd world war was signed by Baldwin and Mussolini in the dining room there in 1939.

DSC04225 Napoleon and Josephine R.jpg 

 

DSC04260 Rocca Borromeo R.jpg