The romantic setting of Lake Orta... A date with love

Irresistible. A setting accomplice to every falling in love, there is in fact no better date to give to a woman you want to conquer, Orta San Giulio has always been a spectator of tender love, of a first kiss, of a promise of eternal love. At the foot of the mountains west of the Piedmont shore of Lake Maggiore lies Lake Orta, formerly called Lake San Giulio, the westernmost of the pre-alpine lakes, originating from the southern front of the Simplon glacier. A stretch of water with a small island in the middle, just a few dozen metres from the picturesque village of Orta, which stands on the eastern shore of the lake and proudly displays all its history crystallised in the cobbled lanes, dry-stone walls and stone slate roofs. Essentially nothing has changed since that September of 1893 when, in the waters between the square overlooking the lake and the island of San Giulio, victory in the European rowing championship was contested. The first in history. "The public flocked - told the correspondent of the Gazzetta Piemontese - in cars, omnibuses, landaus. And the posters hanging on the columns of the Palazzotto, the former seat of government, reminded us that, in addition to the races scheduled for the Championship, there would also be a Regatta between 'the young ladies of the town and the holidaymakers'. Young men crowded along the banks at practice time'.

123 years have passed since then, but Orta does not look any different. Restorations have revived the frescoes on the façades and the old signs, the houses are renovated and well-kept, the taste of the small gardens is identical, the ferry that connects the mainland and the island lands in the square exactly as it once did. The feeling of looking closely at the past is palpable. There is no square metre of this ancient village, vertically or horizontally, that does not deserve to be observed. Every house, every wall, every roof, every garden, every hallway is packed with detail. Perhaps because the history of the village is ancient and the corner of the world in which it lives is hidden, reserved, not noisy. Just like the little alleys that lead out onto the lake, with those little stone walls where you can sit and watch the moon reflecting in the lake, where the darkness of the night is only interrupted by a few distant lights or a fish jumping into the water or the rocking of a boat. A personal, intimate, cosy spectacle, overflowing with sweetness and charm, an atmosphere that conquered Gianni Rodari who set the novel There was twice Baron Lambert, or, The Mysteries of the Island of San Giulio,  then  Umberto Eco who closed the book Number zero with the phrase 'The island of San Giulio will shine in the sun again' and in 2015 also Tornatore was enchanted by this lake and chose it as the set for part of the filming of "The CorrespondenceBorgo Ventoso is in reality the island of San Giulio.