The Mansion Borromeo on Island Bella
This is the main tourist destination on Lake Maggiore. The Island Bella is situated in the Borromeo Gulf, close to Stresa From the most famous tourist resort on Lake Maggiore you can admire the ten sloping terraces shaping its gardens. On the northern part of the island there is the Borromeo Mansion, a representation mansion, which was begun in the 17th C to receive the most important guests and impress them with the luxury of the rooms and the abundance of the decorations. Even if you would never guess it from the outside, the interior decoration is worth seeing: there are richly decorated rooms, adorned with stuccoes, pictures, tapestries and furniture. The rooms are in different styles, as it took long time to build such an imposing mansion on an island. Some rooms are named after the distinguished guests they accommodated, like the Napoleon’s room and the Berthier’s gallery, while other rooms recall their use. There are two picture galleries and the famous grottoes, the most surprising rooms in the mansion.