Love, protection and respect that has lasted for six centuries

Filippo Maria Visconti transferred the Rocca di Arona, together with the entire Comune, as a fiefdom to Vitaliano I Borromeo. For a good four centuries the fortress remained in the hands of the Borromeo family, and it was even the birthplace of future Cardinal San Carlo Borromeo.

Lodovico Borromeo expelled the Malpaga family from the castles of Cannero, on the border with Switzerland. In the archive documents we read that on 6 October 1519, the day before the day of Santa Giustina Borromeo, he began the construction of the fortress, called Vitaliana in honour of the founder of the family.
In a very short time the fortification was completed and subsequently, having become useless from the military point of view, it was abandoned in the century that followed. The castles stand on two rocks a short distance from the shore and are currently in the process of restructuring: they will soon be open to the public.

In the Rocca di Arona, in the room known as the Room of the Three Lakes, subsequently dedicated to him, San Carlo Borromeo, cardinal and archbishop of Milan, who was to be proclaimed a saint in Rome on 1 November 1610, was born.
Much loved in his diocese for his numerous good works and for the abnegation and the spirit of sacrifice he showed during the plague of 1576-1577, he was an important figure for the history of the Church, of which he was a great reformer and one of the protagonists of the Council of Trento.
There is also a huge statue of him in Arona, the so-called Sancarlone, erected shortly after his death.

Federico III Borromeo, cardinal and archbishop of Milan, was born in Milan. He was the cousin of Saint Charles Borromeo, to whom he was deeply connected. Alessandro Manzoni mentioned him in his novel The Betrothed.
The author dedicated many pages to his character, portraying him as a benevolent and austere pastoral presence, noble in birth and spirit.

Vitaliano VI Borromeo, considered the creator of the palace and garden of Isola Bella, was born. Very cultured and intelligent, he corresponded with heads of state and worthies from all over Europe. His extensive correspondence, conserved in the Borromeo archive on Isola Bella, contains numerous letters in which he describes the project in minute detail, even drawing the architectural details in the margins of the written texts.

The garden of Isola Bella was created, decorated at its highest point by a statue of a unicorn, the symbol of the family. The garden is a perfectly conserved example of Baroque style. It is adorned with numerous statues, obelisks and fountains, which stand on terraces sloping down to the lake. Parterres of flowers are alternated with scenographies of stone that create genuine theatrical sets.
Seen from a distance, its shape is reminiscent of the stern of a galleon ploughing through the waters of Lago Maggiore.

Carlo IV was to join his surname with that of his first wife, Giulia Arese. An eclectic character, his second marriage was to be to Camilla Barberini and he would become Viceroy of Naples for the Habsburgs. He acquired the fiefdom of Maccagno on Lago Maggiore.

Napoleon Bonaparte stayed on Isola Bella for two days with a retinue of around sixty people. He was not welcomed in person by Count Borromeo, who was angered because the French army had destroyed the Rocca di Arona, one of his estates. The letters of the administrator of the palace telling the Count of the events speak of dirt, broken furnishings and the great rudeness of the emperor’s entire entourage. Luckily Napoleon found his stay on Isola Bella boring, as he did that on Isola Madre, where he went pheasant hunting. His room in the palace still exists, with the original bed where he slept intact.

After the Five Days of Milan the Milanese nobles that had participated in it were fined by Radetzky. Among them was Vitaliano 9 , who had actively participated in the revolt. The price to be paid was very high for the finances of the count and the whole family.

The construction of the Family Chapel on Isola Madre, designed by architect Defendente Vannini, dates back to this year. It is a small church opposite the palace, the façade of which is decorated with terracotta panels.
Some members of the family are buried in the crypt.

The Simplon railway tunnel was inaugurated. Giberto Borromeo, senator of the Kingdom of Italy, was president of the Italian committee for the Simplon, which was built in just eight years (between 1898 and 1906) between Brig in Switzerland (Canton Vallese) and Iselle, near Domodossola in the current province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, and was to remain the longest railway tunnel in the world – almost 20 kilometres long – until 1982.

The Stresa Conference, which between 11 and 14 April 1935 saw French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and the Head of the Italian Government Benito Mussolini sit around the table, was held in the rooms of Palazzo Borromeo on Isola Bella.
The purpose of the agreement was to reaffirm the principles of the Locarno Treaties and to declare that the independence of Austria “would continue to inspire their common policy“.
The three parties declared themselves ready to react to any future attempt by Germany to amend or infringe the Treaty of Versailles.

As soon as he returned to Italy after the end of the Second World War, Vitaliano X Borromeo decided to complete the work on the Salone, which had been left incomplete, although a number of projects had been prepared in the past years. The decoration was executed following the original designs, but the magnificent dome that loomed over the building in the early projects was never built.

The Palazzo on Isola Madre, which had been abandoned for a long time, was restored and opened to the public. Part of the furnishings are original and part have come from other residences of the Borromeo family. Displayed inside it are objects of everyday life, such as the plates and the liveries of the staff.

The Borromeo Archive on Isola Bella contains almost five million documents, datable from 1300 to 1940. Most of the documentation regarding the history of the territory of the Borromeo fiefdom – which extended around practically the entire lake – is contained here. Notarial registrations, cash books, correspondence by the family members, musical scores and plenty of other materials are all held here at researchers’ disposal.

Prince Giberto VIII and Princess Bona Borromeo reopened the painting gallery of Isola Bella, also known as the Galleria del Berthier, to the public. The gallery is an example of a perfectly conserved 17th-century painting collection. 300 paintings and all the furnishings of this extraordinary wing of the Palazzo, the heart of the family art collections and evidence of the original furnishings of the house, have been restored. Photo Gallery.