Nietzsche came here in 1882 with Lou Salomé, and the mount above the village — the Sacro Monte of Orta, UNESCO-listed since 2003 with its twenty frescoed chapels devoted to Saint Francis — became the backdrop of one of philosophy's most retold walks. Orta San Giulio is Lake Orta's drawing room: Piazza Motta open to the water, carless lanes, wisteria.
Opposite, the island of San Giulio guards a Romanesque basilica and a cloistered monastery: the "path of silence" circling it dispenses maxims on quiet. Five minutes by boat, and time changes its measure.
Near Orta San Giulio
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
