Lake Orta
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Lake Orta Lago d'Orta |
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| Lago d'Orta, view from the north | ||
| Geographical location | Piedmont | |
| Tributaries | Pescone , mountain streams, underground springs | |
| Drain | Nigoglia → Strona → Toce → Ticino → Po | |
| Places on the shore | Gozzano , Orta San Giulio , Pettenasco , Omegna | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 45 ° 49 ′ N , 8 ° 24 ′ E | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 290 m slm | |
| surface | 18.2 km² | |
| length | 13.4 km | |
| width | 2.5 km | |
| Maximum depth | 143 m | |
| Middle deep | 70.3 m | |
The Lake Orta ( Italian Lago d'Orta or Cusio ) is a northern Italian lake in the northern Italian region of Piedmont . It is located about 23 km west of Lake Maggiore and belongs partly to the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Province and partly to the Novara Province .
geography
The fjord lake was created by the erosion that a glacier caused in the existing river bed at this point.
location
The lake is the westernmost of the Italian glacial lakes. It is located in northern Italy, about 87 km northwest of Milan . The lake is located in the western catchment area of Lake Maggiore . While the lake is surrounded by mountains on three sides, it merges with the Val d'Ossola in the north . The altitude is 290 meters above sea level (metri sul livello del mare).
shape
The lake and its catchment area run in a north-south direction. The Orta covers an area of 18.136 km² at 13.4 km in length and 2.5 km in width. Measured by its volume of 1286 × 10 6 m³ and a maximum depth of 143 meters, it is the seventh largest lake in Italy in both categories. Its average depth is 70.3 meters. There are three basins in the lake, which get deeper from south to north.
The ground and banks consist mainly of gneiss , mica slate and granite .
island
In the middle of the lake is the inhabited island of Isola San Giulio , named after the Greek deacon Julius, who lived here at the end of the 4th century and built a small church. The island is 275 meters long at the longest point, 143 meters wide at the widest point and has a circumference of about 700 meters. The historical origin of the settlement lies on the island. In the Middle Ages it probably housed a seat of the bishops of Novara and was developed as a fortress. Later it was certainly their summer residence. The small island is densely built with historical buildings. A medieval basilica, the Basilica di San Giulio , a nunnery, the Mater Ecclesiae abbey and a bell tower are enthroned on the island .
shore
The lake is separated from Lake Maggiore to the northeast by the 1491 m high mountain Mottarone . The Valsesia mountain range limits the lake to the west. On the mountains there are chestnut and beech forests at lower altitudes , and fir and spruce forests at higher altitudes . The climate is mild, especially on the sheltered south-east bank. The mountains surrounding the Orta belong to the Alpi Cusiane group . These include the Mottarone and its secondary peaks in the east between Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore and extend to the Valsesia in the west. In addition to the Mottarone and its secondary peaks on the east side, the peaks directly on the lake also include Monte Mazzone (1234 meters), Monte Trevigno (1117 meters) and Monte Avigno (1136 meters) on the west side . The highest point of the catchment area of Lake Orta is Monte Croce (1644 meters) west of the Omegan; The outstanding point of the panorama is the nearby Monte Rosa at 4634 meters.
Hydrography
The average retention time of the water in the lake is 10.7 years. The main current in the lake is counterclockwise. On the west bank of the lake a current runs from north to south, while on the east bank there is an opposite current to the north. However, these currents can temporarily reverse, so that the direction of flow in the lake is then clockwise. In some cases, currents in deeper water layers also run differently than on the surface, with surface water generally flowing more towards the north and water in deeper layers towards the south.
The average water temperature is 15 ° Celsius, the minimum in the year is 6 ° C, the maximum 25 ° C.
Inflows and outflows
In the south, a terminal moraine prevents flow to the south. This makes it the only lake in northern Italy that flows north - although the outflow from Lake Lugano is not in the south either. The water pours into the Nigoglia brook , which after a kilometer flows into the Strona , which flows back into the Toce . This in turn flows into Lake Maggiore.
Six larger streams flow into the lake: Bagnella, Acqualba, Pellino, Pellesina and Lagna flow into the lake on the west bank, the Pescone river in the east. There are also numerous small torrents from the neighboring mountains and springs that lie below the lake level. The catchment area of the lake is 116 km² and has an average height of 650 meters.
Surname
In addition to the name “Lago d'Orta”, the lake also bears the name Cusio in Italian . This did not appear until the 19th century, whether it was already called Cusius in Roman times is unknown. In the Middle Ages it was called Lago di San Giulio, its name as Lago d'Orta has been around since the 16th century. In Milan it is also called Cenerentola (Cinderella), as it is hardly known to tourists outside of Milan and they concentrate on the larger Italian lakes. The name Cusio is not only used to denote the lake, it is also often used to refer to the surrounding area. This is the name of the province in which the Orta lies Verbano-Cusio-Ossola , the mountains around the Orta are the Alpi Cusiane.
History and legend
prehistory
From the Bronze Age there are traces of settlement from settlements that were built on deep foundations in the water. The area of Lake Orta was already inhabited by tribes from Central Europe, Gauls and Celts in prehistoric times . Colonization by Rome was slow and arduous and was not completed until the time of the Roman Empire . The area was sparsely populated during the time of the Roman Empire. Since Septimius Severus , a road, the Septima, led from Genoa on the eastern shore of the lake towards Simplon and Brig . There were probably also individual military stations on the lake.
According to legend, Christianity was introduced at the end of the 4th century . The Greek brothers Julius ( Giulio ) and Julian from Aegina came to the area and, with the consent of Emperor Theodosius, destroyed all pagan temples in order to build churches in their place. When they had built 99 churches, they wanted to build the hundredth in which they also wanted to be buried. Julius left his brother in Gozzano , a town on the southern shore of the lake, and set out north. His destination was a small uninhabited island on the lake that was haunted by snakes and dragons. He spread his cloak on the lake and reached the island, drove away the snakes and dragons and built his hundredth church there at roughly the same place where the Basilica of San Giulio is today. He was buried there in 392.
From the Middle Ages to modern times
In 575 the Lombards divided the empire into duchies. Mimulf became duke of the area and was tasked with defending the region against the Franks . When the Franks crossed the Simplon anyway , Mimulf was beheaded by Agilulf . From the time of the 6th century, archaeological defenses - often over late Roman foundations - have been secured in most places on Lake Orta. The Isola San Giulio in particular was strongly secured and served as a fortress in the power struggles of the late Middle Ages. In 957 the island was besieged for the first time. Emperor Otto I besieged the island on which Queen Willa was staying. After two months the queen surrendered. She was granted life and allowed to visit her husband Berengar at S. Leo Castle . During the siege, Guglielmo da Volpiano , who later became Abbot of Dijon , was born on the island .
Since the time of the Carolingian it is certain that Orta San Giulio belonged to the diocese of Novara . Through donations from the German emperors up to Frederick I , the bishop gained control of the entire bank except for Omegna , which he retained - apart from brief interruptions - until the beginning of the 19th century. Omegna belonged to the city of Novara .
The Riviera d'Orta became almost an independent state with its own laws and a government led by a lord of the castle appointed by the bishops. The individual communities had a great deal of autonomy. The area remained relatively sparsely populated. The people lived mainly from agriculture and fishing.
Since the 19th century
During the time of the French Cisalpine Republic , the Riviera d'Orta belonged to the Agogna department with the capital Novara and was then part of the First Italian Kingdom .
In 1861 the Riviera becomes part of the Italian Kingdom.
Industrialization began on Lake Orta in the middle of the 19th century. The road from Orta to Gozzao on the south bank was expanded from 1840 to 1844. In 1851, Carlo Calderoni , who returned from Germany, began producing household goods made of brass and tin-plated, and then cutlery made of brass and silver. Baldessare Cane went to Paris in 1853 and then settled in Omegna, where he opened the first small factory: he began processing tin, lead and brass before his factory became an aluminum processor by the beginning of the 20th century. The two found numerous imitators - some of them former employees - who established a center for metal processing in Omegna. In 1919 six metal workers formed the La Subalpina cooperative, which later became Girmi . Bialetti started production in 1919, and in 1921 the Alessi family established their first small factory. Lagostina started producing metal housewares in 1901. Their aluminum-bottomed pans made it into the MoMA catalog in 1933 , and the company became known worldwide for the development of pressure cookers .
In 1864 the railway line Novara-Gozzano was built and from 1884 to 1888 the railway line between Orta and Domodossola was built and from 1880 there was a shipping service for freight.
During the Second World War, a partisan group formed under Filipe Beltrami , which was mainly active on the mountain slopes on Lake Orta.
The lakeside housewares industry peaked in the 1970s. Since then, the increasing competition from Asia in particular has ensured that some have been bought up by large corporations or changed their business model and, for example, concentrated on marketing and outsourced production . Others switched to high-priced products or became suppliers to other companies. Nevertheless, Lake Orta is still a center for the manufacture of household goods, fittings and valves. In 2006 180 companies in the household goods industry employed 2,000 people and achieved a turnover of 300 million euros.
Flora and fauna
The flora and fauna of the lake have changed drastically in the 20th century. Until 1927 the lake was known for its abundance of aquatic life. There were around 150 species of algae and numerous rotifers and especially water fleas. Trout, carp, tench, eel and pike were common and fished commercially. The Bodenseefelchen , introduced in 1910 , quickly developed into the most commercially important species in the lake.
From 1927 to 1986, in the southern shore led Gozzano based rayon factory by JP Bemberg their waste water into the lake, the large amounts of copper and ammonium sulfate introduced into the lake. The copper poisoned the phytoplankton , which then led to the death of the zooplankton and ultimately the fish. The food chain collapsed, leading to the disappearance of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish. As early as 1929 there were no more fish in the lake, it was described as dead. This process was not without controversy between the factory workers who had found new jobs and the fishermen who lost their livelihoods until the factory took on all ex-fishermen as factory workers. The spread of numerous small-scale metalworking businesses on the south side of the lake has exacerbated the problem since the 1950s.
In the following decades, a rudimentary biological community of the formed Cyclops Cyclops abyssorum , the rotifers Hexarthra fennica (rotifer) and coccomyxa -Grünalgen coccomyxa minor . Since 1956, the copper has been partially retained, resulting in a collection of ammonia in the lake. The lake was acidic until the late 1980s. The pH was at times 4, which is roughly the pH of wine. From 1980 Bemberg clarified its wastewater, from 1986 a sewage treatment plant went into operation, which clarified the wastewater of the villages on the lake and smaller industrial companies. The lake, however, remained very acidic, so that there was hardly any biological life in the lake. It was not until the extensive application of lime from May 1989 to June 1990 that the flora and fauna were regenerated. The authorities use finely ground dolomite equivalent to 18,000 tons of pure calcium carbonate .
The water itself is now very clean. However, there are still serious deposits of heavy metals in the sediments. Flora and fauna are abundant in the lake again, but still in an unstable position. The first species to reintroduce themselves after the restoration of the lake were the rotifers Brachionus calyciflorus , Brachionus urceolaris , Hexarthra fennica and Asplanchna brightwelli , followed by water fleas . Fish such as trout, char, carp, tench and eel were successfully introduced and were able to re-establish themselves well enough to allow sport fishing on the lake. In 2010, the highly invasive American marsh crayfish was discovered in the lake.
human and nature
The lake is located in a sparsely populated area. The steep banks prevented the formation of larger settlements. For centuries the area was largely cut off from the wider area. Three places are important centers on the lake. Orta San Giulio with Isola San Giulio in the middle of the lake was the historical center and is now the focus for tourism. The small town of Omegna on the northern bank has grown especially since the 19th century and is now by far the largest town on Lake Orta. Industry settled in Omegna and the city developed into the economic center of the lake. About three kilometers south of the lake, in the hinterland, is Gozzano .
Places right on the shore
- Orta San Giulio with the pilgrimage church Sacro Monte d'Orta
- Pettenasco
- Omegna , meanwhile grown together with the neighboring towns Casale Corte Cerro and Gravellona Toce , together also known as Alto Cusio
- Pella
Locations on the slopes of the mountains
- Armeno
- Ameno
- Nonio
- Cesara
- Arola
- Bolzano Novarese
- Miasino with the hamlets of Tortirogno (by the lake), Carcegna and Pisogno
- Madonna del Sasso
- San Maurizio d'Opaglio
traffic
The lake cannot be reached by ships. The steep banks also made it difficult to move around the edge of the lake. The road from Gozzano to Orta San Giulio was not expanded until around 1900. For a long time, traffic in and around Orta consisted primarily of private boats that sailed across the lake. In 1878 a public service began with three steamers, the Cusio , the Mergozzolo and the Umberto I , which was to be replaced by private providers as early as 1887. These were not economically successful until 1910 , a publicly operated ship, the Riviera , crossed the lake again. This public service existed until 1935, when Riviera's successor Principe di Piemonte burned down and until 1984 only irregular private providers drove again. Since 1984 there has been another public offer. The Navigazione Lago d'Orta operates several larger ships in regular service between all major places on the lake. Between Easter and October these run daily, in the months in between only a few days on the weekend. In addition, there are water taxis that have been combined in the Motoscafisti Lago d'Orta since 1923 .
There is now a 33-kilometer road along the banks that connects the localities there. The region has no direct connection to the Italian motorway network. Regional train stations are in Omegna , Pettenasco and Orta San Giulio / Miasino , the latter two stations being in the hills above the city proper.
economy
Metalworkers began to settle in the area in the early 19th century, from which a metalworking industry developed by the early 20th century. The center of the household goods industry in Italy emerged on the north bank of the lake, and numerous manufacturers of bathroom fittings and valves developed on the banks of the lake. Globally active companies such as Alessi , Bialetti and Lagostina have their origins in Omegna. A radical change has occurred since the end of the 20th century. Bialetti and Lagostina are now part of globalized corporations and only present in Omegna through factory sales . Alessi is still headquartered in Omegna. Incidentally, the household goods and fittings manufacturers have either switched to high-priced products - often for professional use. Small and micro enterprises in particular play a role here. They have around 1000 jobs, which is 60% of the industrial jobs in the region (household goods: Piazza Effepi , Calderoni , Ruffoni , fittings: Fantini , Stella , Huber , Deagostini Inox ) or have become suppliers to industry. The Doppeldorf Quarna Sotto / Quarna Sopra has a long tradition of manufacturing musical instruments, with the companies focusing in particular on wind instruments. Many of the companies have been run by one and the same family since they were founded at the beginning of the 20th century.
tourism
The lake was a popular travel destination from the late 17th to the 19th century. Today it is best known as a weekend destination for tourists from Milan , while international tourism is relatively rare. The main tourist center is Orta San Giulio on the eastern shore of the lake.
water sports
The lake is especially popular with rowers and kayakers . Among other things, the very first European rowing championship took place here in 1893 and the Italian rowing championship in 1910.
Since 2006, the Omegna rowing club ( Canottiere Lago D'Orta ASD ) has organized the Italian Sculling Challenge every spring . It is an international rowing competition in which the participants row in a mass start 6000 meters across the lake. Participants are regularly top international rowers such as Iztok Čop , who won the competitions in 2010 and 2011, Henrik Stephansen , the 2013 winner or Femke Dekker , the 2013 women's winner.
Significant buildings
Sacro Monte d'Orta
The Holy Mountain of Orta is located on a peninsula, about 400 m above sea level at the top of a hill overlooking the lake. She joined in 2003 as part of the Sacred Mounts in the list of World Heritage of UNESCO entered. Orta San Giulio is built on the mountain .
Museums
Most of the museums on the lake are grouped together in the Ecomuseo del Lago d'Orta e Mottarone , based in Pettenasco. In Pettenasco itself the museum for the art and turning of wood, the Museo dell'Arte e della Tornitura del Legno . The Forum Omegna has an exhibition of the industrial history of the site. The Museo del Rubinetto in San Maurizio d'Opaglio is especially dedicated to the manufacture of fittings , while the Museo dell'Ombrello in Gignese picks up on the tradition of umbrella manufacture in the area. In Quarna Sotto there is a musical instrument museum , the Museo degli Strumenti Musicali . On the south bank of the lake is an umbrella manufacturing center, which led to an umbrella museum, the Museo dell'Ombrello. Museums of art are the Museum of Religious Art ( Museo di Arte Sacra ) in Forno and the Fondazione Calderara per l'Arte Contemporanea - the Antonio Calderara Foundation for contemporary art in Vacciago di Ameno.
reception
Well-known visitors include Friedrich Nietzsche , Samuel Butler and Lord Byron . Honoré de Balzac described him in his novel Les Employés as follows: “Great majesty towers over the lakeside. The lake itself has human dimensions [...] The world itself is here in miniature format, simple and pure. ” For Nietzsche, the stay at Lake Orta was so important that the following dedication was added to Also Spoke Zarathustra as a preliminary remark : “ From Orta to ” . The poet Robert Browning dedicated his poem By the Fireside to Lake Orta .
See also
Web links
- The eastern shore of Lake Orta ( memento of May 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), The west bank of Lake Orta ( memento of March 8, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (article at distrettolaghi.it)
- Lake Orta: tourist information, history, pictures, curiosities
- Map of the lake with contour lines
- Orta Reloaded: Documentation about the pollution and regeneration of the lake
- Description of the lake by the Piedmont region (PDF; Italian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Carla Bonacina: Lake Orta: the undermining of an ecosystem. In: J. Limnol. 60 (1): 53-59, 2001, p. 53.
- ↑ a b c d Carla Bonacina: Lake Orta: the undermining of an ecosystem. In: J. Limnol. 60 (1): 53-59, 2001, p. 54.
- ↑ a b Graffiche Reggiori: Lake Orta p. 62.
- ^ Anthony Peregrine: Lake Maggiore: Beauty and the bath taps . In: Daily Telegraph. May 3, 2010.
- ↑ a b c Graffiche Reggiori: Lake Orta. P. 19.
- ↑ C. Bonacipa et al.: Lake Orta: Recovery after the adoption of restauration plans. In: NW Schmidtke (Ed.): Toxic Contamination in Large Lakes. CRC Press, 1988, ISBN 0-87371-090-8 , p. 118.
- ↑ a b c Lago di Orta , Deims Repository for Research Sites and Datasets
- ↑ Edward Docx : Orta: the Italian lake tourists have not discovered . In: The Guardian. March 9, 2012.
- ^ Trudy Ring et al .: Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places. P. 431.
- ↑ a b c Graffiche Reggiori: Lake Orta. P. 20.
- ↑ Graffiche Reggiori: Lake Orta. P. 23.
- ↑ Graffiche Reggiori: Lake Orta. P. 26.
- ^ A b Fernando G. Alberti: Entrepreneurial Growth in Industrial Districts: Four Italian Cases. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78100-770-9 , p. 95.
- ^ A b c Fernando G. Alberti: Entrepreneurial Growth in Industrial Districts: Four Italian Cases. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78100-770-9 , p. 96.
- ^ A b C. Bonacina et al.: Lake Orta: Recovery after the adoption of restauration plans. In: NW Schmidtke (Ed.): Toxic Contamination in Large Lakes. CRC Press, 1988, ISBN 0-87371-090-8 , p. 104.
- ^ Carla Bonacina: Lake Orta: the undermining of an ecosystem. In: J. Limnol. 60 (1): 53-59, 2001, p. 58.
- ↑ a b Roberta Piscia, Pietro Volta, Angela Boggero, Marina Manca: The invasion of Lake Orta (Italy) by the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852): a new threat to at unstable environment. In: Aquatic Invasions. Volume 6, Supplement 1, 2011, pp. S45-S48
- ↑ a b Unioncamere Piemonte: The Household goods industry in the Verbano Cusio Ossola Province (PDF)
- ^ A b Bonnie Tsui: The Secret Little Sister of the Italian Lakes . In: New York Times. 20th September 2012.
- ↑ Seeclub Luzern: Italian Sculling Challenger - Successful rowers from the SeeClub Luzern ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 4, 2013.
- ^ Stephansen in action at Italian Sculling Challenge , Worldrowing.com March 8, 2013.
- ^ Forum Omegna at the Google Art Project
- ↑ Honoré de Balzac: Bureaucracy , chap. 2
- ↑ Uncharted waters. In: The Independent. January 29, 2005.
