The gardens of Isola Bella among the best 16 in the world

The gardens of Isola Bella are among the best 16 in the world according to the English specialized website Luxury Columnist.

 

The park of Borromeo circuit was included in the “16 most beautiful gardens in the World” rank, a list that reviews some of the most typical and famous destinations of this category.

 

Among the symbols of Lake Maggiore and among the places in Verbano that are most visited by tourists, the baroque gardens of Isola Bella are one of the suggested wonders (in fourth place), alongside prestigious destinations such as Monet’s gardens at Giverny, the New York Botanical Garden and Versailles. The Verbano park is the only Italian one mentioned included in a virtual “world tour” that goes from France to Japan, from Thailand to the United States.

 

Go to the complete ranking

 

The story, from the Terre Borromeo website:

 

The garden on Isola Bella was built from about 1631 to 1671.

The Teatro Massimo is the most important monument in the Isola Bella garden. Statues, obelisks and fountains blend perfectly with the vegetation of the ten scenic terraces, at the top of which stands the statue of the Unicorn, the heraldic symbol of the Borromeo family.

 

All around the theatre is a jubilation of flowers and rare plants: the centuries-old camphor, the Gunnera manicata – whose leaves can reach a diameter of two metres, the highly fragrant Olea Fragrans, the extremely rare Halesia Diptera with its flowers that look like snowflakes, the star anise, the Mexican pine.

 

The Azaleas’ Parterre is enchanting when in bloom, and the Giardino d’Amore is a joy to behold, with its boxwood hedges creating a green embroidery that can be seen from above the terraces.

Camellias, espaliers of roses in May, oleanders in June, and citrus and hydrangeas paniculata in midsummer light up the Italian garden on Isola Bella, where white peacocks live in freedom.

 

Since 2002, the Isola Bella’s gardens, together with those of Isola Madre, have been part of the prestigious English circuit of the Royal Horticultural Society.

 

Translated by Sara Mentasti, Chiara Brovelli and Riccardo Bianchi

Reviewed by Prof. Robert Clarke