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Cannero Riviera, seen from Oggiogo. (Photo by Markus Bernet)
Just before you hit Switzerland, south of the pretty little border town of Cannobio, with its rushing mountain stream, steep, crooked pebble lanes, and old plastered buildings, lies the last Mediterranean stretch of the Lake around Cànnero Riviera.
Cànnero Riviera.The name "Riviera" is apt, for the protected nature of this south-facing promontory blesses it with one of the northernmost, truly Mediterranean climes, allowing citrus trees to flourish and enough camellias for an annual festival.
The town's sweeping vistas down the lake, its steep medieval streets, and 18th-century houses grace it with a lovely air, but Cànnero is most noted for the scraps of islands just a 15-minute boat ride offshore that sprout glowering castles called the Malpaga that are built right down to the water level—castles with a gruesome history.
The Castelli di Cànnero, or Malpaga Castles.Used by the Borromeo family as a defensive line against the Swiss, but long-since abandoned, these little island castles were the most feared fortresses on the lake in the early 1400s when they were home to the Bloody Mazzardi Brothers.
Five sons of a local butcher (sometimes the name is spelled "Mazarditi") inhabited Cànnero's castle-islets as a base from which to pillage lakeside villages and waylay passing ships.
These lake pirates kept any women they captured chained up inside, but they tossed all the men over the walls or hung them from the ramparts.
By 1414, the locals were fed up. The town of Cànnero sent 500 soldiers to attack the castle. While four of the brothers managed to escape, the fifth was drowned.
The local boatmen (tel. +39-0323-788-112, www.taxibanano.it) who take visitors for a spin around these eerie ruins swear—and, unlike most canned tour guide commentary, they look as if they mean it—that the fifth brother's ghost still haunts the ruins on stormy nights.
Tourist Office Arona
Piazzale Duca d'Aosta
tel. +39-0322-243-601
www.distrettolaghi.it
Statua di San Carlo ("Il Carlone")
Via Verbano, Arona
tel. +39-0322-243-601
Open: Apr–Sep, daily 9am–12:30pm, 2–6:15pm;
Oct, Sat-Sun 9am–12:30pm, 2–6:15pm
Mar + Nov–Dec, Sat-Sun 9am–12:30pm, 2–4:30pm
» More hotels on Lake Maggiore (Booking)
Cannero Riviera tourist info: Though there's a small seasonal office in town on Piazza degli Alpini (tel. +39-0323-788-943, www.cannero.it, open Apr–Oct), the closest proper tourist office is at the ferry dock in Stresa (Piazza Marconi 16, tel. +39-0323-31-308, www.stresaturismo.it and www.comune.stresa.vb.it). Also useful: www.distrettolaghi.it and www.illagomaggiore.com.
If you don't have a rental car, the easiest way is by boat (www.navigazionelaghi.it), with connections to just about everywhere on the lake.
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Tourist Office Arona
Piazzale Duca d'Aosta
tel. +39-0322-243-601
www.distrettolaghi.it
Statua di San Carlo ("Il Carlone")
Via Verbano, Arona
tel. +39-0322-243-601
Open: Apr–Sep, daily 9am–12:30pm, 2–6:15pm;
Oct, Sat-Sun 9am–12:30pm, 2–6:15pm
Mar + Nov–Dec, Sat-Sun 9am–12:30pm, 2–4:30pm
Hotels in Arona