A short boat ride from the western shore of Lake Varese takes you in less than ten minutes, to Isolino Virginia, a small island of just under one hectare, lying only a few dozen metres from the mainland.
The first impression is of immersion in rich, varied nature; among willows, oaks, alders, butcher’s broom and rare species such as the bald cypress of the swamps. It is a charming green corner inhabited by numerous animal species.
Known since the 14th century as San Biagio Island for its church dedicated to the saint, it was purchased in 1882 by Duke Pompeo Litta, who named it after his wife Camilla. In 1865 it passed to Andrea Ponti, who, with son Ettore, financed the first archaeological excavations on the island and around Lake Varese’s pile-dwelling settlements.
The name Virginia was given to the island from participants at a scientific congress; “Convegno della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali”, in 1878, to thank the Ponty’s family decided calling the island Virginia, in honour of Andrea Ponti’s wife.
Excavations by the Abbot Stoppani, the Swiss Édouard Désor and the French Gabriel De Mortillet begun in the 1860s identified the presence prehistoric pilings structures along the eastern Bank. Since then and up to today, numerous excavations have been conducted by some of the most eminent scholars of prehistory proving that Isolino Virginia was continuously inhabited from the early Neolithic to the end of the Bronze age (5300-900 B.C.), and it was possible to reconstruct the most ancient history of human settlement on the Varese lakes. In some periods of prehistory, the areas now submerged were once bigger, dry and populated.
In 1962, Gianfelice Ponti donated the island to the Municipality of Varese, which still manages it today.
Recognized as one of the most important pile-dwelling sites in the Alpine arc, Isolino Virginia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Prehistoric Museum on the island features reconstructions of Neolithic homes, helping visitors understand how ancient lake dwellers once lived.
A visit to Isolino Virginia offers a moment to leave daily frenzy and immerse the soul in a landscape where nature and memory coexist.