Renowned contemporary
Ticino architect Mario Botta
designed the striking
Church of Santa Maria degli
Angeli on a 1600m slope
on Mount Tamaro.
We so enjoy Christa with her ceaseless wit and
non-stop narrative that we arrange to continue our
exploration of Ticino the following day with a visit to
Lake Maggiore, a 45-minute drive northwest of Lugano,
and the tiny one-time fishing village of Ascona. We
dodge raindrops as we sprint for the entrance of the
Casa Anatta Museum on Monte Verita above Ascona.
Here, in the early 1900s, a colony of artists, writers and
philosophers (psychoanalyst Karl Jung and writer
Hermann Hesse among them) formed an Utopian-style
community with the aim of becoming a European centre
The 12th century Romanesque-style Chiesa di San Pietro e Paolo
(Church of St Peter & Paul) in Biasca is a national monument which
of free thought, natural healing and alternative lifestyles,
boasts some particularly fine frescoes.
including nudism. The experiment flourished at first but
ultimately failed. In the process, however, Ascona was
discovered and soon became a favourite vacation spot
for the wealthy and a popular festival venue, hosting
among others, Europe’s most important classical jazz
festival every June and July.
We roam the intricate web of narrow lanes around
the 16th century church of SS. Pietro e Paolo and then
dine lakefront on a regional specialty, risotto, liberally
laced with fresh wild mushrooms. In the afternoon, we
board an excursion boat bound for Brissago Island,
home to the Botanical Park of Ticino Canton.
DESTINATIONS
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