The province of Verbano Cusio Ossola lies in the north-eastern strip of Piedmont, on the borders of Switzerland and Lombardy.
This is a realm of unspoiled nature and encompasses an extensive system of valleys appreciated for their culture and natural beauty, such as the Val d’Ossola, , carved by the river Toce, whose source lies in Val Formazza and, with an drop of 143 metres, gives way to the most beautiful and powerful waterfall of the Alps.
Among the pearls that make this environment unique are the little Lago di Mergozzo, the northern bank of Lake Orta where Omegnia is located (the heartland of the housewife where the coffee maker and the pressure cooker were invented in the last century) and the western bank of Lake Maggiore which hosts renowned resorts, such as Cannobio, Verbania and Stresa, an international tourist destination.
The Isole Borromee are rich in fascination, lying in the midst of Lake Maggiore and offering the perfect balance between art and nature with the Baroque palace and the Italian garden at Isola Bella; the neoclassical home and English-style garden at Isola Madre and a colourful village of rustic houses on the Iosla Pescatori. A truly enchanting landscape complete with banks dotted with historic villas and parks filled with the colourful flowers that are typical of Lake Maggiore: camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons. The most famous of all is the Villa Taranto a Verbania, one of the most renowned and important botanical gardens of Europe.
Not only are there lakes but other spectacles of nature as well, such as the imposing alpine peaks and valleys with the modern ski resorts of Formazza, Piane di Vigezzo, Macugnaga (at the ofot of Monte Rosa), Alpe Devero, San Domenico, Mottarone and many more.
There are also important reserves, established to protect various environments, such as Parco Nazionale Val Grande regard as the largest wilderness in Europe, which extends through inaccessible lands to the high Alpine peaks, and the Parco Naturale Veglia Devero which encompasses meadows, Alpine tundra and wind-raked mountains, and incorporates some of the finest landscapes of the Alps.
The fascination of these places is also linked to important cultural remains, such as the “Strada del Sempione”, a historical trade route. Flanked for more than a century by the Traforo del Sempione, a railway construction that in the early twentieth century opened Liguria, Piedmont and Lombardy as gateways to Europe.
In Verbano Cusio Ossola, moreover, the cultural influence of the Walsers, a people of Germanic origin who inhabited these valleys in the Middle Ages, remains very strong and can be seen in the local architecture.
The typical stone and wooden dwellings reflects the unmistakable style of the Walser buildings (which can be admired above all at Macugnaga in Valle Anzasca and in the district of Formazza, in the valley of the same name) and lend a fairy tale atmosphere and great charm to the small villages of these valleys.
There are many artistic treasures here, including religious monuments nestling in evocative natural landscapes, such as the Santuario della Mandonna del Sangue a Re in Valle Vigezzo, also known as the Valley of the Painters after the eighteenth century Alpine art school and for the frescos and décor that embellish houses and churches. Listed among the Unesco World Heritage Sites, the artistic complexes of Santissima Trinità di Ghiffa and the Calvario di Domodossola, the “capital” of the Ossola valley. Here, in 1828, the Blessed Antonio Rosmini, philosopher and religious leader, founded the religious congregation of the Istituto della Carità, and later pursued his spiritual and cultural works at Stresa, where his mortal remains are preserved.
The folklore, traditions and gastronomy lend further fascination to Verbano Cusio Ossola, a land of “lakes and mountains” which satisfies every taste and where varied cultural events make it a region to discover at all times of the year.