We headed south, and crossed from the west side of the lake to the east side. Our first stop was another Borromeo palace, the Rocca di Angera. Built on a huge rock bluff (hence the “Rocca”), it’s about a 25 mile drive from Stresa.
It’s a very impressive looking structure perched high above the town of Angera and high above the lake. Construction was started in the 1100s by the Visconti of Milan, but was mostly built during the 13th and 14th centuries. The Borromeo family purchased the castely in 1449, because you can’t have too many residences. They have been expanding and improving the castle ever since. It was damaged, albeit not badly, during a bombardment in World War II.
The Rocca di Angera was not overly crowded, and we made it through the outer gate to a terrace with impressive views of the lower part of Lake Maggiore. Using our combo tickets I had purchased the day before at Isola Madre, we skipped the long line to buy a ticket and walked right in like we owned the place.
(Editor: Um, the line to buy tickets was only two people long. Blogger: If I’m going to write about ticket lines, I have to make it exciting! Editor: Yes, your readers must be on the edge of their seats from the drama).
The inner courtyard features one of the largest old preserved wine presses and massive wine barrels (some might be olive oil barrels). My barrel expertise is limited to knowing that “coopers” made barrels.
We walked through the rooms of the palace, skipping the doll museum (apparently this family singlehandedly kept the creepy doll/marionette craftsmen in business.). We made our way upstairs through some pretty cool rooms, including the Hall of Justice (Sala di Giustizia) which includes frescos depicting great moments in Borromeo family history.
Carol's fired up.
We kept going, which led to stairs, and more stairs. And then we went up stairs to the top of the tower, taking a page from Jefferson’s advice to go to the highest point. The views are spectacular. It was hot, but not an unbearable day, and a lake breeze cooled the top of the tower nicely. It was a joy to have such commanding 360 degree views from the top.
Some of the views from upon high:
These three pictures of the vineyard should show the difference in height between three of the views:
There was a family with a daughter and a son – my guess is the daughter was 12 or 13, and the son was around 10 or 11. From their language and accents, we took them to be Scandinavian, or even possibly Dutch. First the parents yelled at them for leaning too far out the window (remember, gravity works!).
Then the son almost dropped his hat out the window, earning him another deserved scolding. Finally, after his parents reamed him out and he was sulking, the mother played good cop to calm him down. As we made our way downstairs, we did not see any bodies or clothing flying past us through the window, so it seemed to end well.
We wandered through the smallish but beautiful garden, out a the point of land affording further great views. The garden was started in 2008 and is organized into different zones of edible plants, medicinal plants, and aromatic herbs. There's a beautiful, calming shaded fountain in the middle with benches. We stopped in the café to hydrate, and shared a slice of apple cake. And then it was back on the road again.
Scenes from the garden:
If you are ever in that neck of the woods of Italy, swing by Rocca di Angera. . .it’s worth the stop. It's very simple, yet inspiring and impressive.
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