The 10 Best Museums in Lake Maggiore, Piedmont

In 1670 Count Vitaliano Borromeo decided to turn a rock awash in the middle of the lake into a “place of delights”. It took four centuries to complete this magnificent work that includes Palazzo Borromeo and its scenic gardens. The tour of the house is fascinating: the Throne and Queens rooms, the Napoleon's Room, the Gallery of General Berthier displaying a collection of 130 paintings. On a lower floor, six grottoes covered with pebbles, tufa rock, stucco and marble were designed to afford cool relief from summer heat. World famous, its baroque garden, with the Teatro Massimo at the centre, consists of ten terraces in the shape of a truncated pyramid. Visitors marvel at the sight of the monumental unicorn, the obelisks, the statues, the two towers and other architectural elements, as well as the mighty trees, like the camphor and citrus trees, and the collections of roses, rhododendrons and camellias.

Museo del Paesaggio presents to the public the most important collection of works of art on Lake Maggiore. Paintings and sculptures, from the end of the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, tell of the territory’s capacity to attract and host artists of international importance: Daniele Ranzoni, Paolo Troubetzkoy, Mario Tozzi, and Arturo Martini, among others.

As a long time mechanics enthusiast, Mr. Alfio Gottardo has spent part of his life preserving vehicles and machinery that have made the history of civil and military transport. An impressive collection in 30,000 mq park where nature and engineering coexist. Visiting Gottard Park, families will find mechanical wonders from all over the world: vintage cars and motorcycles, large vehicles, planes, helicopters, locomotives, tractors, artillery vehicles, tanks ... And much more ... Real rarities, to be admired inside three exhibition pavilions or during a pleasant walking in the greenery. The park’s mission is to preserve, entertain and educate: Let’s transfer to future generations the importance of pursuing technology while respecting nature.

The Granum museum is dedicated to pink granite and its historical and economic importance for Baveno. The multi-medial exhibition area is divided into 4 sections: types of granite and of other stone in the province of VCO; mineralogical rarities; the workmanship and processing of granite both today and in yesteryear; the history of quarrying and how granite is used locally and overseas.