The Mother Island is the largest in the Borromee archipelago on Lake
Maggiore. Larger 220 meters and 330 feet long, the islet is occupied by some
buildings and especially by gardens. Formerly it was called the Island of
San Vittore and later the Isola Maggiore
Historical sources indicate that
in the middle of the 9th century on the island there is the church with
quadruped apse.
It is not excluded that even a small military
apprehension might arise..
Certainly there is the knowledge that there were olive groves, whose production was perhaps used for sacred uses. Starting in 1501 Lancillotto Borromeo, introduces to the island the first cultivars of citrus fruits that came from Liguria together with a gardener who cared for them ,; ordered the construction of a first nucleus of the gentry's residence, which is subsequently expanded in Renaissance form by Renato I Borromeo ...
