1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Maggiore, Lago

by William Augustus Brevoort Coolidge

MAGGIORE, LAGO (Lacus Verbanus of the Romans; Fr. Lac Majeur; Ger. Langensee), the most extensive of the lakes that extend along the foot of the Alps in Lombardy, N. Italy. Its area is about 83 sq. m., its length 37 m., its greatest width 51/2 m., and its greatest depth 1198 ft., while its surface is 646 ft. about sea-level. It is mainly formed by the Ticino (Tessin) River, flowing in at the north and out at the south end, on its way to join the Po, but on the west the lake receives a very important tributary, the Toce or Tosa River, which flows down through the Val d’Ossola from the mountains around the Simplon Pass. Other important affluents are the Maggia (N.W.) and the Tresa (E.). The upper end of the lake (about 16 sq. m.) is in the Swiss canton of Ticino (Tessin). Locarno, at the northern or Swiss end, is 14 m. by rail S.W. of Bellinzona on the St Gotthard line. There is a railway along the south-eastern shore, from Magadino (101/2 m. S.W. of Bellinzona) to Sesto Calende (361/2 m.), at the southern end of the lake and 20 m. by rail from Novara. The east shore of the lake is reached at Luino by a steam tramway from Ponte Tresa on the lake of Lugano (8 m.), while the direct Simplon line runs along the west shore of the lake for 151/2 m. from near Pallanza past Baveno and Stresa to Arona, which is 23 m. by rail from Novara. On the east shore are Luino (Ital. Luvino) and Laveno. On the west shore are (reckoning from N. to S.) Cannobio, Pallanza, Baveno, Stresa and Arona. Opposite (S.E.) Baveno are the famous Borromean Islands, on the largest of which (Isola Bella) are very remarkable gardens (formed about 1617), wherein many tropical plants flourish abundantly, while south-west of Baveno rises the glorious view-point of the Monte Mottarone (4892 ft.) between Lago Maggiore and the northern end of the Lake of Orta. In the morning the tramontana wind blows from the north down the lake, while in the afternoon the inverna, blowing from the south, prevails. The first steamer was placed on the lake in 1826.  (W. A. B. C.)