Il Grand Tour del lago d’Orta is back, a beautiful 115 km circular walk to be done in 5 days around the Piedmont lake.
It was one of the most romantic stops on the Grand Tour, the long journey which – between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries – allowed the promising scions of the European aristocracy to experience firsthand the beauties of the world.
In love with its coasts, writers and poets, nobles and adventurers have spoken about it: among its most illustrious guests Stendhal ed Hemingway, Balzac e Nietzsche. We are talking about Lake Orta, the small and placid Piedmontese lake nestled between the provinces of Novara and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.
Look at the gallery with images of the journey.
Grand Tour of Lake Orta, five days on the road
Modern travelers can today return to appreciate the wonders preserved between waters and mountains in the old way, walking among the hills and woods that surround the body of water. The Grand Tour of Lake Orta – a name that evokes the spirit of the first tourists – is an adventurous route 115 kilometer ring which, over the course of five days, allows trekking enthusiasts to complete a complete tour around the lake, visiting villages and cities amidst nature, history and – naturally – delights gastronomic offered by the territory.
Grand Tour of Lake Orta stages
The names chosen for the five stages are suggestive, which can be followed consecutively or independently, at different times of the year. We start from Borgomaneroa well-connected and easily accessible city, to arrive – on the first day – at the village of Miasino following the course of the Agogna river: the Torrent stage leads, between modernity and green woods, to the shores of the lake.
They follow the stage of chestnuts – up to Ornavasso among centuries-old chestnut trees and small hamlets built at the foot of the Mottarone – and the Artisans’ stage, which crosses the industrious strip of land between Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore and which leads to the pretty Omegnahometown of Gianni Rodari.
The stage of Granite it runs along the impervious western shore of the lake, where the steep cliffs of the Cusian Alps offer unforgettable views of the lake. The fifth and final stage starts from San Maurizio d’Opaglio – the stage of Vine – which crosses Maggiora, the city of wine, and finally returns from hill to hill to Borgomanero.
On the grandtourlagodorta.it website you can find detailed information on each stage: maps and suggestions on accommodation and reception, as well as the possibility of walking the route accompanied by an official guide.
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The journeys in the footsteps of Saint Charles and Saint Bernard
The Grand Tour of Lake Orta intersects the path of two historic devotional paths: the first is the Way of St. Charles which – following an accurate biographical and archival study – is today able to offer the pilgrim a single route that links the places frequented by Carlo Borromeo in upper Piedmont. Start at the foot of the famous Colossus of San Carlo – monumental statue that stands tall Aaronon Lake Maggiore – and ends after about 200 kilometers near Viverone, where the path rejoins the well-known Via Francigena. The second route is the Way of Saint Bernard of the Alps which connects, 190 kilometers long, the Simplon pass to Novara: initially known as Via Francisca Novarese, on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of its birth it was dedicated to the saint of Menton, whose remains rest right in the Novara cathedral.
Along these two pilgrimages they intersect some of the most beautiful Sacred Mountains, that is, the nine complexes which – between Piedmont and Lombardy – offered believers an oasis of quiet where they could live a spiritual and artistic experience that would be difficult to replicate elsewhere. Built after the mid-15th century, they were declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2003 and are today protected by the Sacri Monti Management Authority.
Such a rich cultural, artistic and spiritual heritage could not fail to inspire a unitary project for the protection and promotion of the territory: thus was born “The Routes of the Sacred Mountains. Rediscovering a cultural landscape” and we went to his presentation, with trekking attached. Let’s see how it went.
On foot on the Via dei Sacri Monti
I arrive at the project presentation evening and I am immediately amazed: organized in Orta, right on the shores of the lake, it offers an enchanting panorama overlooking thethe island of San Giulio which rises, illuminated at dusk, right in the center of the lake. Numerous organizations and sponsors participate in the presentation: in addition to the aforementioned Management Body of the Sacred Mountains of Piedmont, the Sportway ETS association, the Tourist District of the Lakes, Mountains and Valleys of Ossola, the art historian Luca Di Palma, Andrea Del Duca – director of the Ecomuseum of Lake Orta and Mottarone – and Franco Grosso on behalf of the Amici di Santiago di Novara association. The refined lakeside hotel that hosts us prepares an exquisite risotto with perch – there was no shortage of it – which closes the day: we stay in nearby Ameno.
Paths in the woods of Sacro Monte
Fresh morning for a first day full of happy commitments: we start with a walk that leads from Ameno to the shores of the lake, following the route of the Grand Tour. A boat takes us to Pella, on the western shore, to tackle the first real hike of the day: the climb to the Egro cross, a path through woods and chestnut groves also shared by the Cammino di San Carlo. The cross stands on a spur overlooking Lake Orta: the view is thrilling and extends over the surrounding territories up to the Buccione tower and the peak of Mottarone.
The sincere circle at the top of the mountain rewards us for our labors: a plate of polenta with mushrooms and cheese, a good glass of red and we are ready to return to the lake for the afternoon visit to the island of San Giulio. Legend tells of how the holy man, at the end of the 4th century, decided to bring the word of God to those remote lands, freeing them from the Evil that afflicted them: riding a flying cloak he went alone to the island, driving away the dragons and snakes that infested it.
Today the island is home toBenedictine abbazia di closura Mother Ecclesiae – famous for the art of restoring ancient fabrics – and above all the basilica of San Giulio, built on the site where the saint founded the first church. A look at the massive 12th century ambo, a visit to the crypt which still preserves dragon bones – come on, we’re joking, today we know it’s a simple whale – and we’re back on the ferry for the last visit of the day: the Sacred Mount of Orta.
The romantic beauty of the places was the setting for the fleeting love between Nietzsche and Salomé – remembered as the idyll of Orta – and the panorama enjoyed from the top of the hill confirms that here you can breathe magical air. This complex it is part of the nine Sacred Mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy, but at the same time it differs from others due to its uniqueness: it is in fact the only one entirely dedicated to the life of a saint, namely Sin Francis of Assisi. The twenty chapels that make up the devotional itinerary depict – with frescoes and life-size terracotta statues – the salient episodes of the saint’s life: the sensation of being on the stage of a theater excites. Classy dinner at the restaurant at the top of the hill, recently reopened after years of inactivity, and return to the accommodation.
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The Sacred Mount of Varallo
Crisp air for the second day of visits: car transfer to Varallo Sesiaideally connected to Lake Orta by a stage of the Cammino di San Carlo: 17 kilometers which are also covered, once a year, by the traditional A journey. Before climbing the Sacro Monte di Varallo, the destination of the day, a walk through the streets of the town and the entrance to Santa Maria delle Grazie to admire the Gaudenzian wall. The 1513 work by the painter Gaudenzio Ferrari is an imposing fresco – ten by eight meters – which narrates twenty episodes from the life of Jesus: a sort of colossal comic that told the illiterates of the time the main biblical passages through powerful and didactic images.
The ascent to Sacro Monte is long and pleasant, the higher we go the more the view expands. At the top, an excellent lunch awaits us in an elegant historic hotel: main course mushroom risotto, but the mind still goes back to the fantastic starters.
Afternoon dedicated to the view of the Sacro Monte di Varallo: the first to have been built, with its forty-four chapels – frescoed and inhabited by around eight hundred statues – was the inspiration for the construction of all the other Sacred Mountains. The idea for the complex came from the Franciscan friar Bernardino Caimi, who wanted to offer all Christians the possibility of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land without necessarily having to undertake the dangerous journey to Palestine, dominated by the Turks at the time. Thus it was that the Sacred Mount was set up to reproduce numerous biblical places, including the Holy Sepulchre, Pilate’s Palace and the Holy Stairs: renamed “the New Jerusalem”, the place soon became a destination for pilgrimages and a source of income for the church. Among the numerous chapels that can be visited, it undoubtedly impresses the choral and dramatic scene of chapel number XXXVIII, the Crucifixion.
The time of sunset is approaching: a last look at the views offered by the numerous terraces and the journey finally comes to an end. There is just enough time to mention and thank – in chronological order – the places that kindly welcomed and refreshed me: Hotel San Rocco (Orta), Albergo Monterosa (Ameno), Circolo Fantini (Egro), Ristorante Sacromonte (Orta), Vecchio Albergo Sacro Monte (Varallo).
See you soon and – of course – happy walking!
Photo Marco Biella
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2023-11-03 09:01:13
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