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Borromean Islands
The Borromean Islands (It. Isole Borromee) are a group of three small islands and two islets in the Italian part of Lago Maggiore, located in the western arm of the lake, between Verbania to the north and Stresa to the south. Together totalling just 50 acres (20 hectares) in area, they are a major local tourist attraction for their picturesque setting.
Their name derives from the Borromeo family, which acquired them in the fourteenth century and still owns some of them today.
Isola Bella, named for Isabella, countess Borromeo, was originally a largely barren rock; between 1650 and 1671, Vitaliano Borromeo built an attractive summer palace, bringing in vast quantities of soil in order to build up a system of ten terraces for the garden. The unfinished building displays paintings by Lombard artists and Flemish tapestries.
Isola Madre, the largest of the four, is also noted for its gardens, which are maintained in an English style. Its palace is uninhabited.
Isola dei Pescatori or Isola Superiore is the only inhabited island in the archipelago. It has a fishing village, which in 1971 had a population of 208.
Two small islets complete the archipelago. Isolino di San Giovanni is located just off Pallanza (today part of Verbania) to the north. The tiny uninhabited rock of Malghera, lies between Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori and offers bushy vegetation and a small beach
