LAGO D' ORTA

The Lago D' Orta is situated to the west of the Maggiore Lake (between the Mount Mottarone), in the province of Novara. It is also called Lago Cusio. 
Surface sq km 18,2; maximum depth m 143; length km 13,4; maximum width km 2,5. The climate is mild, the shores and the environment are picturesque, reach of wood and of cultivations, fervent in industrial and touristic activities.
In the middle of the east shore is situated Orta San Giulio, tourist centre, dominated by the Sacred Mount with the 20 frescoed chapels (you can visit it also by train: the railway Novara-Domodossola go along the whole of the east shore.
In the middle of the Lake, in front of Orta, the little Island of San Giulio, with the homonymous Basilica of the 4th century, rebuilt in the 9th and 11th centuries.