Isola Madre

Very beautiful well-maintained palace and garden. There are also great lake views, ponds, and a good cafe.

A beautiful, well maintained island with an amazing garden and i really loved the Pallazo. It was rather quiet to, not to many tourists as on the other Borromean islands. I can only recommend it.

Lovely island in the middle of lake Maggiore which is a perfect example of how humans and nature can live together. The palace itself it's a great example of the Italian baroque. While the garden showcases many varieties of exotic plants and flowers. One of the most impressive is the Japanese cypressum behind the villa. I really loved also the peacocks and the fagians strolling around the park and used to the human presence

A place very quiet and peaceful with various kinds of plants and special breeds of birds.

Different plants and trees from different parts of the world. This beautiful island is full of vegetation and tall trees 😍

This was our favorite of the Borromean Islands. Yes, it does get crowded, especially during season. We were there in mid-September, which is busy but not as busy as August. You will want to make a day out of visiting the islands to get your moneys worth. And eat a big meal before you go because you will end up paying a whole lot for an average meal on the islands. But you don't do the island tours for the food! These gardens are award-winning, stunning, resplendent - honestly, there are not enough words to describe their beauty. We will go back one day.

It's wonderful, you should visit it. A lot of different plants from all over the world.

Isola Madre, at 220 m wide and 330 m long, is the largest island of the Isole Borromee archipelago which falls within the Italian part of the Alpine Lake Maggiore, in the Province of Verbano Cusio Ossola, Piedmont. The island is occupied by a number of buildings and architectural structures and is especially well known for its gardens. In the past it was known as Isola di San Vittore and later as Isola Maggiore. The available historical sources indicate that in the middle of the ninth century the island had a church, a cemetery (whose existence is recalled by the current garden's so-called 'scala dei morti', or 'Staircase of the Dead'). It is known for certain that olives were cultivated here; the produce may have been employed for sacred purposes. In 1501 Lancillotto Borromeo, one of the five children of Giovanni III Borromeo and Cleofe Pio di Carpi, introduced the cultivation of citrus fruit to the island, the plants being brought from Liguria, along with a gardener (or hortolano) to tend them. Lancillotto began the construction of the family residence on the island, which in the 1580s was extended in the Renaissance style by Renato I Borromeo. The Palazzo Borromeo was built in the sixteenth century on the remains of the early church, cemetery and perhaps castle of San Vittore (named after the martyr Victor Maurus).

The most beautiful flowers are there.

Peacocks! White peacocks! Trees gardens villa! More evidence of the wealth that was Milan.

Subtropical climate with wonderful garden, huge flowers. The most beautiful of the three islands!

Beautiful island worth visiting

A charming island located on Lake Maggiore near Stresa, Italy.

Beautiful and very well maintained.

Beautiful and quiet garden. If you visit during the week when it's less crowded, you get a better chance to see the many species of birds inhabiting the island.

Beautiful place, one must visit palace too, very interesting

Like a postcard. 🖤📷💭

A magnificent location!

One of the most beautiful place which U ever seen!

Amazing place, wonderful gardens!!!