Orta San Giulio

On the western side of the peninsula, where the Sacred Mount chapels stand, before the magnificent, mystical island of San Giulio, the village of Orta San Giulio is a renowned summertime resort and tourist destination. One thing attracting tourists to Orta, just as for the whole lake, is the event-packed cultural calendar, with staples like “Ortafiori” (a flower show taking place on the Salita della Motta), important musical events like the “Festival Cusiano di musica antica”, the “Settembre Musicale” held on the island of San Giulio, and the “Orta Festival.” The name Orta San Giulio comes from the evangelizing saint sent by the Emperor Theodosius in the fourth century to fight Arian heresy. First a Longobard territory, then a Frankish one, around 962 it passed into the hands of the Novara bishops via concession of Emperor Otto I, who took it from Berengario II after a historic siege. The bishops had to wait until the new millennium, however, before they could exercise real jurisdiction over the territory: in 1219, after several fights with the local lords, the episcopal hegemony was finally affirmed. It only ended in 1817, when power was transferred to the House of Savoy.