 Lake Maggiore, one of the largest of our peninsula, develops on a surface of 21 square kilometers, (13 square miles) long about 65 kilometers (40 miles) with a width between 1 to 4 kilometers, it is located at 194 meters (636 feet) above sea level, with a maximum depth of 372 meters (1220 feet).
Its shores cover a total lenght of 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Canton Ticino in Switzerland to Sesto Calende (Va). It has a surface area of about 213 km². The lake basin has tectonic-glacial origins and its volume is 37 km³. Its main tributaries are the Ticino, the Maggia, the Toce (by which it receives the outflow of Lake Orta) and the Tresa (which is the sole emissary of Lake Lugano). The rivers Verzasca, Giona, and Cannobino also flow into the lake. Its outlet is the Ticino which, in turn, joins the river Po just south-east of Pavia. Wedged between the pre-Alps, Lake Maggiore is framed in its lower section by the soft hills of the "Novarese" region, and in the upper section, by high mountain peeks, some of which with perennial snow.
These characteristics make possible to have temperate climate, milder in winter and refreshed by breezes during the summer. In Lake Maggiore there are many islands, large, small or very small, 8 in Piedmont, 2 in Switzerland andonly one in Lombardy.
Between Stresa and Verbania there is the archipelago of the Borromee Islands: the Isola Bella (Beautiful Island), the Isola Madre (Mother Island) and the Isola dei Pescatori (Island of the fishermen) famous also as Isola Superiore.
Opposite the Swiss town of Brissago there are the two Islands of Brissago.
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