Etappe 20 - zaterdag 28 mei Vertrekpunt: Verbania - Sestriere Afstand: 242 km

VERBANIA
The Verbania township was born in 1939 from the union between Intra and  Pallanza. As for the latter, its origins are Roman and it prides itself for the magnificent location and the thrilling perspectives of the Lago Maggiore and the Isole Borromee. Ancient aristocratic mansions with luxurious gardens, important museums and precious sacred artifacts are the jewels worth admiring. Among them the Roman Oratorio of San Remigio, a recognized national landmark and the Renaissance Madonna di Campagna Church. Unmissable are also Villa Giulia, and its garden overlooking the lake which often becomes a natural stage for cultural events, and Villa Taranto and its world renown botanical park featuring, from spring onwards, a multicolored flowery explosion. The villa is not open to visitors, being it the seat of the Prefecture, but dedicating a couple of hours to the visit of the garden, created in 1931 for aesthetic and botanical reasons by Scottish captain Neil Mac Eacharn, is certainly not a waste of time. The Isola Bella offers to the visitors the extraordinary architecture of the Palazzo Borromeo as well as its enormous Italian baroque garden where each and every flower and plant species settled in. Ten superposed terraces embellished with stretches of water and flowerbeds, including a Giardino dell’Amore (a love garden), where Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte used to meet.

FROM VERBANIA TO SESTRIERE

Orta San Giulio
This enchanting little town rises on the oriental bank of the Orta lake, facing the San Giulio island. Ancient mansions and baroque palaces with pretty wrought iron balconies are lined up along narrow and winding little streets: Casa Margaroni and its colonnade, Casa Giani with its open gallery (XV-XVI century), Palazzo Gemelli (end of the XVI century) and the ornate façade and sixteenth century rusticated portal.  Remarkable paintings and a portal in Oira marble are worth visiting the Parrocchiale of Santa Maria Assunta.

San Mauro Torinese
The commune of San Mauro Torinese is situated at the foot of the hill, not far from Turin’s town center. The area is well known for its rich villas and adjacent magnificent parks. Villa Lavista melts together neo-classical architectural items and baroque and Art Nouveau elements. The patrician Villa Soley prides itself of the particular tower which overlooks San Mauro and of a penthouse balcony decorated with statues. Landmark of the San Mauro hill is the Torre del Moncanino, a neo-gothic building constructed in the second half of the nineteenth century. The architecture of the tower is rather original, exhibiting simple windows, two-light mullioned windows, three-light lancet windows, and balconies. Not far from there the Counts of Sambuy Castle has a magnificent park and is circled by ramparts.

Susa
Situated in the heart of the valley with the same name, Susa is also know as “Italy’s key” due to its strategic position at the confluence of the roads connecting Savoy and Dauphiné. The origins of the city are very ancient and some remains already witness Celtic-Liguria settlements, yet a great number of finds are dated back to the Roman age, such as the Arch of August, the Thermal springs, and the Arena. Further important monuments to be recorded are the Cathedral and the San Francesco Church which, according to the legend, was built by  will of Countess Beatrice of Geneva, wife of Thomas I of Savoy, following her meeting in Susa with St Francis of  Assisi.