Orta San Giulio
a watercolor painted by God
The Name
The Latin name of the lake was Cusius, in reference to its first inhabitants, the Usii.
During the Middle Ages it was given the name “lago di San Giulio,” (Lake St. Julius) from the evangelizer saint.
The name Orta comes from the Latin hortus conclusus.
History
• 390: Christianity reaches the lake riviera with the brothers Julius and Julian, who arrive there from the Greek island of Aegina. According to tradition, walking along the shores of the lake Julius spies a small island inhabited by dragons and serpents. Unable to find someone to take him there in a boat, he spreads his cape over the water, steps on board, and reaches the island. There he defeats the monsters and builds the Basilica in which he is still buried.
• 590: King Agilulfus of the Lombards has Mimulf decapitated for having put up little resistance to the invasion of the Franks. Mimulf’s remains are still kept in the Basilica of San Giulio.
• 773: Charlemagne deposes Desiderius, last king of the Lombards, and returns the Lake St. Julius Riviera to the bishop of Novara.
• 950: King Berengarius II takes the Riviera away from the bishops. Forced to escape by the emperor Otto, his wife Willa finds refuge on the island of San Giulio and, determined to resist, strengthens the castle walls, the remains of which have been identified as the “queen’s wall.” The canons of the island are rewarded for their loyalty to the emperor, who by means of a diploma dated July 962 confirms and augments their feudal rights.
• 1219: the lordship of the Novara bishop-counts over the Riviera is juridically established, and will continue, through various vicissitudes, until 1767, when the bishop of Novara would hand over the rule to the Savoys, keeping for himself only the title of Prince of San Giulio and Orta.
• 1817: Cardinal Morozzo definitively renounces in favor of the Savoys all feudal claims on the Riviera, which in 1861 becomes part of the Kingdom of Italy.
The Wrought Iron Balconies of the Old Slate-Roofed Houses
“The place, bizarrely, is called Orta. Someone who knew how to see, my father says, once defined it a watercolor painted by God” (M. Werner, Terraferma).
Arriving from Gozzano, the lakeshore drive coming in to Orta is resplendent with 19th-century neoclassical houses with gardens of blossoming azaleas and camellias. One enters the village among elegant buildings from the 1600-1700s, with arcades opening onto gardens sloping down to the lake. Piazza Motta is like a parlor closed on three sides by porticos, in the shade of which small shops do a brisk trade, while the café terraces have tables reaching right to the water’s edge.
The sharp lines of a Renaissance building, the Palazzo della Comunità della Riviera (1582), immediately capture one’s attention. This building is a symbol of the long self-government that this community has enjoyed. Continuing down Via Olina, one comes to the Olina house, the Hospital from 1602 and, at the intersection where the road rises slightly, the Monti Caldara house (17th cent.) with its lovely wrought iron balconies, a feature seen on many houses in the village. Just a bit beyond is the 17th-century Bossi house, today the Town Hall, with the entrance opening on a garden ending at the lake.
Farther down are the oratory of San Rocco (1631), various 18th-19th-century homes (Gippini and Tosi houses, and the Durio and Motta villas), and Via Bersani, with many medieval elements. On the right side of the Salita della Motta is the 15th-century Casa dei Nani (Dwarves’ House), so called because it has four small windows above the wooden lintel, and nearly opposite there is another old building from the 16th century. To the left stands Palazzo De Fortis Penotti with its beautiful neoclassical façade, and on the right, the late Renaissance Palazzo Gemelli.
At the top of the hill is the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, built in 1485, whose present-day appearance betrays an 18th-century adaptation; it has a marvelous stone portal, with capitals carved in floral and animal motifs. Passing along the walls of Palazzo Gemelli, one comes to the uphill road leading to the San Quirico cemetery and then to the Sacro Monte.
The final stop is the Island of San Giulio, which emerges 400 meters from the shore. Seen from the lake, the tall bell tower of the Basilica, the gardens, and the neat little houses seem to form an enchanted palace rising alone among the castle ruins. A large part of the island is occupied by the Seminary (1844).
The Basilica has undergone changes in various periods. On the site of the primitive church founded by St. Julius in 390, another church was built in 800, later damaged in the 10th century. The main apse remains of this older structure, while the nave and aisles were built in the 10th and 11th centuries. The magnificent ambo, carved from local stone (the same used for the portal of the parish church) in the 12th century, is considered one of the finest works of Romanesque art in Italy. The four columns, each differing from the others, support parapets decorated with tightly interwoven sculptures. The frescoes are from the 14th-16th centuries.
Leaving the church, a road circles the entire island. Near the lake are the old houses of the canons, today private residences.
Local Products
Liver mortadella.
Local dishes
Risotto with perch.
