Lake Maggiore

Lake Maggiore(UK:/mæˈdʒɔːreɪ,ˌmædʒiˈɔːreɪ/,US:/mɑːˈdʒɔːreɪ,məˈdʒɔːri/;Italian:Lago MaggioreItalian pronunciation:[ˈlaːɡomadˈdʒoːre];Western Lombard:Lagh Maggior;Piedmontese:Lagh Magior;literally 'greater lake') orVerbano(pronounced[verˈbaːno];Latin:Lacus Verbanus) is a largelakelocated on the south side of theAlps.It is thesecond largestlake inItalyand thelargestin southernSwitzerland.The lake and its shoreline are divided between the Italian regions ofPiedmontandLombardyand the Swiss canton ofTicino.Located halfway betweenLake OrtaandLake Lugano,Lake Maggiore extends for about 64 kilometres (40 miles) betweenLocarnoandArona.

Lake Maggiore
Lago Maggiore(Italian) Verbano(Italian) Lagh Maggior(Lombard) Lagh Magior(Piedmontese)
View of Lake Maggiore towards the Alps andMonte Rosafrom aboveLaveno
Location	LombardyandPiedmont,Italy Ticino,Switzerland
Coordinates	46°05′53″N08°42′53″E
Primary inflows	Ticino,Maggia,Toce,Tresa
Primary outflows	Ticino
Catchment area	6,599 km2(2,548 sq mi)
Basincountries	Italy, Switzerland
Max. length	64.37 km (40.00 mi)
Max. width	10 km (6.2 mi)
Surface area	212.5 km2(82.0 sq mi)
Average depth	177.4 m (582 ft)
Max. depth	372 m (1,220 ft)
Water volume	37.7 km3(9.0 cu mi)
Residence time	4 years
Surface elevation	193 m (633 ft)
Islands	Brissago Islands,Borromean Islands
Settlements	Arona,Locarno,Luino,Stresa,Verbania (seelist)

The climate is mild in both summer and winter, producingMediterraneanvegetation, with many gardens growing rare and exotic plants. Well-known gardens include those of theBorromeanandBrissago Islands,that of theVilla TarantoinVerbania,and theAlpinia Botanical GardenaboveStresa.

Lake Maggiore is drained by the riverTicino,a main tributary of thePo.Its basin also collects the waters of several large lakes, notably Lake Lugano (through theTresa), Lake Orta (through theToce) andLake Varese(through the Bardello).

Geography

Lake Maggiore is 64.37 km (40 mi) long, and 3 to 5 km (2 to 3 mi) wide, except at the bay opening westward betweenPallanzaandStresa,where it is 10 km (6 mi) wide. It is the longest Italian lake, althoughLake Gardahas a greater area. Its mean height above the sea level is 193 metres; a deep lake, its bottom is almost everywhere below sea-level: at its deepest, 179 metres below. Its form is very sinuous so that there are few points from which any considerable part of its surface can be seen at a single glance. If this lessens the effect of the apparent size, it increases the variety of its scenery. While the upper end is completelyalpinein character, the middle region lies between hills of gentler form, and the lower end advances to the verge of the plain ofLombardy.Lake Maggiore is the most westerly of the three great southernprealpinelakes, the others beingLake Comoand Lake Garda.

Upper lake with theBrissago Islandsand Maggia delta from aboveBrissago,Switzerland

The lake basin has tectonic-glacial origins and its volume is 37 cubic kilometres (9 cu mi).The lake has a surface area of about 213 square kilometres (82 sq mi), a maximum length of 54 km (34 mi) (on a straight line) and, at its widest, is 12 km (7 mi).Its main tributaries are theTicino,theMaggia(forming a very large delta), theToce(by which it receives the outflow ofLake Orta) and theTresa(which is the sole emissary ofLake Lugano). The riversVerzasca,Giona,andCannobinoalso flow into the lake. Its outlet is the Ticino which, in turn, joins the riverPojust south-east ofPavia.

The lake's jagged banks are surrounded by thePennineandLepontine Alps,andLugano Prealps.Prominent peaks around the lake are theGridone,Monte Tamaro,Monte Nudoand theMottarone.The highest mountain overlooking Lake Maggiore isMonte Rosa(4,634 m; 15,203 ft), located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of it. The western bank is inPiedmont(provinces ofNovaraandProvince of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola) and the eastern inLombardy(province of Varese), whereas the most northerly section extends 13 kilometres (8 mi) into the canton ofTicino,where it constitutesits lowest pointabove sea levelas well as that ofSwitzerland.The culminating point of the lake'sdrainage basinis theGrenzgipfelsummit of Monte Rosa at 4,618 metres (15,151 ft) above sea level.

Climate

See also:Italian Lakes § Climate

Lake Maggiore weather ishumid subtropical(Cfain theKöppen climate classification). During winter, the lake helps to maintain a higher temperature in the surrounding region (since water releases heat energy more slowly than air). The temperatures are cooled down in summer by the breezes that blow on the water's surface, changing its colour. The area enjoys nearly 2300 hours of sunshine a year and an average annual temperature of 15.5 °C (60 °F). The water of the lake has a comfortable temperature of 20 to 22 °C (68 to 72 °F) in July and August. In winter snowfall is erratic and primarily affects the higher elevations. Rainfall is heaviest in May and lowest during the winter months.

Flora and fauna

The flora is strongly influenced by the lake basin, which has allowed the proliferation of typically Mediterranean plants, and also of plants native to the Atlantic areas favoured by the composition of the soil and the abundance of siliceous rocks.Lemons,olive treesand bay olive trees grow there.The spontaneous vegetation is composed ofyew,holly and chestnut trees on the surrounding hills.

The lake is a habitat to two species of whitefish,Coregonusand, less widespread,Coregonus lavaretus.Both live in deep water and come ashore only during the spawning in early December. There are alsoperch,pike,chub,burbot,torpedo,eelsandAlburnus arborella.The lake is home to several species of nesting waterfowl, it also represents an important corridor, a place of rest and feeding for migrations. For example:common merganser,mute swan,grebes,gulls,cormorants,ducks.

A number of exotic species have established themselves in the lake, includingpikeperch,which has been recorded since 1977;wels catfish,which was first noticed in the early 1990s; andruffe,introduced in the mid-1990s. Wels catfish in excess of 50 kg in weight have been fished from the lake.

Towns and villages on the lake

Switzerland, Canton ofTicino	Italy,PiedmontRegion Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossolaand Province of Novara	Italy,LombardyRegion Province of Varese
Ranzo Gerra San Nazzaro Vira Magadino Tenero Locarno Ascona Ronco sopra Ascona Brissago Minusio Muralto	Cannobio Cannero Riviera Oggebbio Ghiffa Verbania Baveno Stresa Belgirate Lesa Meina Arona Dormelletto Castelletto sopra Ticino	Sesto Calende Angera Ranco Ispra Brebbia Besozzo Monvalle Leggiuno Laveno-Mombello Castelveccana Porto Valtravaglia Brezzo di Bedero Germignaga Luino Maccagno Tronzano Lago Maggiore Pino sulla Sponda del Lago Maggiore

Islands

Isola Bella

• Borromean Islands(three islands and two islets located betweenVerbaniato the north andStresato the south)
  • Isola Bella
  • Isola Madre
  • Isola dei Pescatori(or Isola Superiore)
  • Isolino di San Giovanni(in front ofVerbania)
  • Scoglio della Malghera(between Isola Bella and Isola Pescatori)
• Brissago Islands(close toBrissago)
  • San Pancrazio (or Grande Isola)
  • Isolino (or Isola Piccola or Isola di Sant’Apollinare)
• Castelli di Cannero(three small islands just off the shore fromCannero Riviera)
• Isolino Partegora(in the gulf ofAngera)

Sacro Monte di Ghiffa

Sacro Monte di Ghiffa

TheSacred Mountain of Ghiffais aRoman Catholicdevotional complex in thecomuneofGhiffa,(Piedmont,northernItaly), overlooking Lake Maggiore. It is one of the nineSacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy,included in theUNESCO World Heritagelist.

Events

The Spirit of Woodstock Festival is an annualopen air festivalat the end of July/beginning of August. It is organized inArmenoby theMirapuricommunity.

History

Lake Maggiore in the EveningbyIvan Aivazovsky,1858

The first archaeological findings around the lake belong to nomadic people living in the area in prehistoric types. The first settlements discovered date from theCopper Age.Along the shores of the lake, between the 9th and 4th centuries BC. J.-C., theGolasecca culture,aCelticcivilization of theIron Agedeveloped. The latter was in turn conquered by theRomans,who called the lakeVerbanus LacusorLacus Maximus.In Roman times a maritime line was created that linked the lake, thanks toTicino,toPavia,from where the ships would then continue along thePoto theAdriatic Sea.

After the fall of theWestern Roman Empire,the lake was under different domains. Most of the current settlements originated in the Middle Ages when the lake was under theDella Torre,Visconti,theBorromeoandHabsburgfamilies.

Clashes also took place on the waters of the lake between military fleets, such as in 1263, when the Della Torre ships fought against those of the Visconti near Arona or, between 1523 and 1524, when the Borromeo clashed againstFrancesco II Sforzaand in 1636 between French and Spanish always in the waters between Arona and Angera.

From the fourteenth century until the end of the eighteenth century, navigation on the lake and on theTicinowas also used to transport the heavy blocks of marble obtained from the quarries located around the lake towards the main Lombard construction sites: thecathedral of Milanand theCertosa di Pavia.

Methanewas first discovered and isolated byAlessandro Voltaas he analysedmarsh gasfrom Lake Maggiore, between 1776 and 1778.

From the middle of the 19th century, the lake began to experience strong tourist development, particularly afterQueen Victoria's stay inBavenoin 1879.

In 1936, aBugatti Type 22Brescia Roadster, built in 1925, was sunk in the lake by employees ofZüricharchitect Marco Schmucklerski, whenSwisscustoms officials investigated whether he had paid taxes on the car. The Bugatti was attached to an iron chain making it possible to recover it once the investigation was over, yet that never happened. When the chain corroded, the car sunk to the lake bed, where it was rediscovered on 18 August 1967 by local diver Ugo Pillon and became a favourite target for divers thereafter. When one of the divers, Damiano Tamagni, was killed in a hold-up on 1 February 2008, his friends from theAsconadivers' club decided to lift and sell the car wreck to raise funds for a yet-to-be-created foundation named after the victim. The remains of the Bugatti were recovered on 12 July 2009. The sale took place at the Retro Mobile classic car exhibition in Paris on 23 January 2010. It was sold for €260,500.

In May 2021,a cable car collapsednear the lake, killing 14 people.

In May 2023 a boat capsized in a storm while travelling betweenAronaandSesto Calende,killing 4 people. Among the dead were 2 Italian intelligence agents as well as a former agent ofMossad.

The Hotel Meina incident at Lake Maggiore

This incident is part of theLake Maggiore massacresduring WWII.

Meinais a municipality located 77 kilometres (48 miles) northwest of Milan, on the southern shores of Lake Maggiore. The Hotel Meina was located north of the town of Meina and was owned by Alberto and Eugenia Behar, Sephardic Jews who had moved to Italy from Constantinople. In September 1943, an armistice was declared between Italy and the Allies. At that time, the Hotel Meina housed a number of Jewish guests, most of them escapees of theNazi occupation of Greece.The area around Lake Maggiore was not under Allied control but was occupied by the German Waffen-SS, specifically the infamousLeibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.Captain Hans Krüger, who directed operations in Meina and the surrounding villages, was in charge of locating the Jews in that area and was responsible for theLake Maggiore massacresin which approximately 54 Jews were murdered.

On the night of 22 September 1943, most of the Jewish residents of the Hotel Meina were executed and their bodies were thrown into Lake Maggiore. The Fernandez-Diaz family, a family of Greek Sephardic Jews from Thessaloniki, barricaded themselves in one of the fourth-floor hotel rooms. It took an extra day for the Germans to reach and execute them. The family included three young children whose lives were not spared despite pleas from older family members. Among those killed were Dino Fernandez-Diaz (76 years old), Pierre Fernandez-Diaz (46), Liliane (Scialom) Fernandez-Diaz (36), Jean Fernandez-Diaz (17), Robert Fernandez-Diaz (13), Blanchette Fernandez-Diaz (12), Marco Mosseri (55), Ester Botton (52), Giacomo Renato Mosseri (22), Odette Uziel (19), Raoul Torres (48), Valerie Nahoum Torres (49), and Daniele Modiano (51). In total, sixteen Jewish residents of the hotel were executed. Its owners, the Behar family, survived due to the efforts of the Turkish consulate.

The Italian police report on the Meina massacre was lost but resurfaced in 1994, along with hundreds of other files of war crimes committed post-armistice by Germans who still occupied or were retreating from Italian soil. These files had been hidden in a wooden cabinet, the so-called "cabinet of shame",discovered in a storeroom of the military prosecutor's headquarters.

Germany does not extradite its citizens convicted of war crimes in other countries. Those responsible for the Meina massacre were tried at home in Germany in 1968, convicted and sentenced to life in prison.However, in 1970, the German Supreme Court declared the statute of limitations for those particular war crimes to have expired, and the prisoners were released.

References in literature and popular culture

Lake Maggiore is featured in American writerErnest Hemingway's novelA Farewell to Arms.The protagonist (Frederic Henry) and his lover (Catherine Barkley) are forced to cross the transnational border within the lake in a row boat to escape Italiancarabinieri.

It also appeared as the location of a fictional racetrack in the racing gameGran Turismo SportandGran Turismo 7.

Die Flippers,a GermanSchlagergroup wrote a song called "Lago Maggiore" that appears on their 1990 albumSieben Tage Sonnenschein.

See also

• Italian Lakes
• List of lakes of Italy
• List of lakes of Switzerland
• Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi

External links

• Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort(1911)."Maggiore, Lago".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 17 (11th ed.). p. 304.
• CIPAIS Commissione Internazionale per la Protezione delle Acque Italo-Svizzere(in Italian)limnologic reports on the Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano
• Official website of Ascona-Locarno Tourism
• Cannobio/Lake Maggiore Information and History