Italy - Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands

The proposed site is situated in Piemonte, in the provinces of Novara , Verbania and Pallanza, on the eastern side of the Pre-Alpine lake district, at 200-220 m above sea level (Lake Maggiore) and 280.300 m above sea level (Lake d'Orta).There are several very small islands (the largest ones measure 200-300m), and villas and gardens have remodelled the gentle slopes on the mainland. On account of he large lakes in the Pre-Alpine belt the landscape is totally different from that of the other valleys; the mild sub-Mediterranean climate is favourable to botanical species typical of the peninsular regions, including olive trees and a wide range of flowering plants. The lakelands, easily accessible by way of large rivers and mountain passes and endowed with an extraordinary climate, have always attracted humans settlements, while the variety and beauty of the landscape determined the development of a very particular religious and cultural sensitivity. These lakelands, under the dominion of the Duchy of Milan until the latter was annexed (1735) by the House of Savoy, have always been a privileged way of passage, and feature a very original re-elaboration of various "erudite" architectural suggestions carried out with a view to improve the landscape artificially by adapting the pompous Roman and Milanese architectural models.