Rare specimens of white peacocks
Isola Madre
Lake Maggiore is a wonderful destination and it is impossible to miss a visit to at least one of its three beautiful Borromean Islands. Today we will talk about “Isola Madre”, the largest and probably the most fascinating. The history of Isola Madre is linked to Borromeo family, which also gave its name to the entire archipelago, since the beginning of 1500.
It was initially used as a citrus orchard as a tribute to the Ligurian origins of the wife of Count Lancelot Borromeo and was later enriched with an English garden with exotic plants and flowers, as well as splendid specimens of birds. The final construction of the elegant Palazzo Borromeo consecrated this island as one of the family's favorite places.
Nowadays it preserves refined period furniture and splendid frescoed halls.
The English Garden of Isola Madre
The protagonist of the island is undoubtedly the fragrant and colorful English garden, a must-see destination to visit both in spring and summer: it contains flowers and plants from all over the world, including a magnificent Kashmir cypress, the oldest in Europe, coming from the Himalayas and planted in the garden around the 1862.
As if the nuances of colors of tropical flowers were not enough to amaze you, in the garden live completely free a wide variety of colorful birds, including rare specimens of white peacocks.