"Orta, the Lord's watercolour, seems painted on silk, with the Sacro Monte towering above it; its noble promenade flaked by close buildings, the silent piazza and the Austere facaded behind the foliage of the horse-chestnuts, and, facing it, the Isle of San Giulio, resembling Dante's airy purgatory, hesitant between water and the heaven". This is how Piero Chiara, the writer of the lakes, exhalted the silence of Orta and this lake. A retreating silence upon whitch the local have spun their ancient legends.
Maggiore Lake
With its particularly mild climate, the area surrounding Lake Maggiore has been nicknamed the "Garden of Europe" for the wealth, variety and beauty of its flowers and vegetation, many being exotic imports which have become completely familiar elements in the local landscape. Other big tourist attractions are the international events hosted by the territory: the Lake Maggiore Jazz Festival, Stresa's "Musical Weeks", Pallanza's Flower Parade, and the Remiero Palio and the Palio Nautico dei Rioni races, to name just a few.