Verbania: D3 … Cannero Riviera

Today we headed in the opposite direction from Stresa to explore a bit of the northwestern shore of Lago Maggiore. That we had far less traffic to deal with on the shoreline road was a bonus.

We’d seen photos of the Castelli de Cannero, three islets on the lake … two of which are home to the ruins of ancient fortifications that were built during the first quarter of the 16th century by Ludovico Borromeo. We kept an eye out for them as we drove, and I managed to get a couple of useable photos … drive-by shooting the only option since there was nowhere to pull over.

Arriving at the small town of Cannero Riviera, we lucked out with a parking spot right on the waterfront … not far from the small marina … and the ‘lemon sculpture’ on the lakefront promenade.

We knew that landing on the islets to visit the ruins of the fortifications was not possible, but we thought we might do a boat ride for a closer look if the timing worked out. No can do … as we found out from signage at the pier.

Instead, we went for a stroll on the lakefront promenade, enjoying the beautiful day. For what is described as a bustling resort town, the town was unexpectedly quiet … which made our walk all the more pleasant.

When we reached the old boat harbor, we turned inland, negotiating the maze of narrow streets of what was a fishing hamlet in medieval times. We peeked into the Chiesa di San Rocco when we found its door open … date of construction unknown but it took on its current form in the 17th century; continued through residential neighborhoods to cross the Ponte della Vittorio; and headed up the hill to the Chiesa di San Giorgio, which we had seen from the road as we drove by.

Arriving at the church from the back road, we stopped first at the Grotta della Madonna di Lourdes below the church. Nearby signage explained that the cave was manmade and replicated the natural one in France. Using the stairs off to the side, we then went up to the church.

The present day San Giorgio, which dates back to 1841, replaced an earlier church that was destroyed in 1829 by a flash flood of the Cannero Stream. Historic documents indicate, however, that there were previous religious buildings on the site … one as early as 985. Some of the features, such as the marble balustrades, were salvaged from the previous church.

Before leaving, I stumbled on the crypt from 1892 where the relics of St Faustus the Martyr are preserved … the reconstructed skeletal remains were remodeled in wax in 1957. Also in the crypt was a model of the Castelli di Cannero, so I did get a closer look at the ancient fortifications after all 😜.

Taking a roundabout route, we returned to the car. The clouds in the sky had started to turn grey. Rain was clearly going to start falling soon. Nonetheless, we decided push on further north to do a bit more sightseeing.Читать далее