Northern Italy is renowned for its lakes: expansive Lake Maggiore, dramatic Lake Como, and the windsurfer's paradise at Lake Garda, among others. But one lake in particular may be the most serene of them all: a small and unassuming body of water called Lake Orta. Tucked between the hills above Lake Maggiore to the east and the beginning of the higher Alps to the west, Orta is the only lake that lies entirely in the region of Piedmont. Just eight miles long and less than two miles wide, it is a minor star in the constellation of the sub-alpine lakes, but all the fascination and history of the larger and better-known destinations seems here to be concentrated. Orta is a place of mists and devotion. Morning mists are common here, regularly shrouding the waters with a cloak of romantic mystery and the devotion is figured plainly in the 20 small chapels of the Sacro Monte above Orta San Giuilo and on the island of San Giulio, dominated by an ancient basilica. But the devotion is also that of those who have been here, and been charmed, and secretly wished that nobody - or at least nobody else - should discover ... Read full article...