Le lac d’Orta est un des plus petits des lacs d’Italie du Nord. Il est aussi un des plus intéressants culturellement et historiquement. Orta est un petit bourg situé au bord du lac du même nom. C’est un village à taille humaine avec des rues pittoresques qui toutes débouchent sur la vieille place du marché. L’unique île du Lac d’Orta, l’île Saint Jules (Isola San Giulio), fait partie de la Commune de Orta. Elle se situe à 400 mètres de la rive du lac. Elle dispose d’un cloître baroque et d’une grande basilique romane.
Orta San Giulio is a town and comune (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Turin and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Novara. Isola San Giulio or San Giulio Island (Italian: Isola di San Giulio) is an island within Lake Orta in Piedmont, northwestern Italy. The island is 275 metres (902 feet) long (north/south), and is 140 metres (459 feet) wide (east/west). The most famous building on the island is the Basilica di San Giulio close to which is the monumental old seminary (1840s). Since 1976 it has been transformed into a Benedictine monastery. The little island, just west of the lakeshore village of Orta San Giulio, has very picturesque buildings, and takes its name from a local patron saint (Julius of Novara), who lived in the second half of the 4th century.
