Oggebbio - Lake Maggiore & Lake Orta Travel Guide

Oggebbio, with just under 1,000 inhabitants, lies between Cannero Riviera to the north and Ghiffa to the south on the Piedmont west side of Lake Maggiore.

But unlike its neighbours Cannero Riviera and Cannobio to the north, Oggebbio does not sit on the alluvial fan of a river; the name is the topographical designation for 15 little villages scattered through the mountains down to the lakeshore.

Above these villages lie the eight alpine pastures of Oggebbio, "summer villages", which reach up to 1,075 m.


The hamlet of Gonte lies almost on the lakeshore, but set back a little above the shore road. This is the seat of the municipality and the site of the parish church of St Peter, with the tallest bell tower (42 m) in the whole Verbano area.

In the hamlet of Novaglio stands the restored Romanesque church of Sant’Agata from the 12th century, and the 15th-century chapel "Della Natività di Maria di Cadessino" (Birth of Mary) has a well-preserved fresco cycle of considerable art-historical interest.

As early as the 19th century the mild climate attracted the rich and famous, who built magnificent Art Nouveau villas close to the shore.

The Villa Anelli with its splendid garden is famous for the variety of its camellias, and the villa of Pasha Draneht (also: Villa del Pascià), a dignitary from the retinue of the Viceroy of Egypt, is now an apartment building. Giuseppe Verdi is said to have been inspired here, as the Pasha's guest, to compose his opera "Aida", originally intended for the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal in 1869 but not finished in time.


Today the little villages of Oggebbio have many holiday villas with fantastic views over the middle part of Lake Maggiore and the opposite eastern shore around Luino, Porto Valtravaglia and Laveno.

Numerous hiking trails and small lanes open up the mountain slopes around Oggebbio.

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