Top of the World
Montisola is the largest lake island in Europe. On the island you will feel as if you have gone back in time since there are no cars, except for the priest’s, the doctor’s and the mayor’s. The only vehicles allowed on the island are a public bus, motorbikes belonging to residents and bicycles, which can be ferried across or rented on site. Montisola is linked to the mainland by a ferry service and the handiest and closest point from which you can reach the island is Sulzano. Here you can catch the ferry to Peschiera Maraglio, an old village of fishermen and craftsmen where fishing and hunting nets are produced. This village is very characteristic with the 17th-century church of St. Michael (S. Michele) and its ancient lanes which climb steeply up towards the mountain. From here you can take two routes: one goes round the island, the other heads north to the end of the island. The first may be taken all year round by following the road to Sensole which skirts the island to the south, amidst lovely olive-trees. To the north you will see the 15th-century Rocca Oldofredi (later Martinengo) and to the south the small island of S.Paolo, where a Cluniac monastery once stood in the 11th century but which has now been replaced by a villa. As you walk up towards Menzino you will go past Sinchignano, with its 17th -century church of St.Charles (S. Carlo) and then Siviano, where you will find the town hall and the Martinengo Tower. Going down to the lake towards the harbour, you will see the 16th-century Villa Ferrata, now restored. At the “La Rete” Association there is a net and fishing museum. Once past Siviano, you walk parallel to the island’s northern side, opposite the little island of Loreto, with its picturesque “castle” which in actual fact is a villa built on the site of a 14th-century convent.
