One Of The Most Beautiful Botanical Gardens In Lake Maggiore

Polidora, The Botanical Garden in Lake Maggiore

Polidora guests have the privilege to visit the Intragnola gardens, and to enjoy the magnificent vista of the Borromean Islands with the Alps in the background.

The park of Villa Intragnola is one of the largest private botanical gardens of Lake Maggiore, covering 7 acres with nearly a mile of the shore, all fenced by walls of pink granite from Baveno, laid by hand.
A simple pasture was enriched at the beginning of 1900 with exotic conifers by Vincenzo Sarto, the inspiration for the important botanical gardens around the Lake.

Particularly interesting from the point of view of landscape are the Taxodium distichum grove on the beach, the 60 meter long tunnel of Carpinus betulus, and the row of Prunus serrulata, near the Lake. Among the conifers, you can admire remarkable specimens of Cryptomeria japonica, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Chamaecyparis and Ginko biloba.
A collection of over two thousand Azaleas which colour the garden in spring, along with Magnoliae stellatae and soulangeanae.
Everywhere in the garden there are groups of chestnuts, oaks, sycamores, calocedri, magnolias and lagerstroemias.

The Largest Private Botanical Gardens Of Lake Maggiore

Throughout the century, the harmony between the two facets, agricultural and botanical has been preserved: until 1990, a dozen Friesian cattle grazed freely in large green spaces where the hay was gathered; today their farmhouse welcomes the guests as a Bed & Breakfast.
For about ten years, open-air nursery activity has become quite intensive, thanks to the plantation of young softwood and hardwoods species that come from collectors from around the world. Among the exotic Pinus trees, you can admire the P. montezumae, P. yunnanensis, a specimen of rare beauty, the P. virginiana, P. armandii, Pinus yecorensis, P. patula and P. roxburghii.

In the Cupressacee variety you can see the Cupressus cashmeriana, C. funebris, C. duclouxiana, C. pygmaea, the fragrant and rare C. abramsiana, and C. stephensonii. In addition to the aforementioned distichum, many varieties of Taxodiaceae are present, such as Taxodium ascendens, which is a rare beauty, and T. mucronatum.

Completing the entire list here, which is necessarily incomplete, would take away the pleasure of discovering the many other species that inhabit the garden which we invite you to explore with curiosity!

Places near the botanical garden Polidora: Villa Taranto, Villa Pallavicino, Isola Bella, Isola Madre, Isola Dei Pescatori, Borromeo Islands, Isole Borromeo, Isole Di Brissago, Isola Di San Pancrazio, Isola Di Sant'Apollinare, mostra della camelia Verbania.