LAKE ISEO
Lake Iseo, also called Sebino, is the smallest of the great Italian pre-alpine lakes, and is located in Lombardy between the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia.
Since 2018, its northern part is included in the UNESCO biosphere reserve of the “Valle Camonica – Alto Sebino”, a worldwide network of places of crucial importance for the maintenance of biodiversity, from a landscape point of view, for natural history and anthropogenic interaction with nature.
The whole lake is a landscape jewel that combines rugged rocky landscapes, such as the Gorges of the Bergamo shore to the west, or imposing vertical slabs of rock overlooking the water, with the gentle hills planted with vineyards of Franciacorta to the south.
To the east you can enjoy splendid panoramic views from the surrounding mountains, such as, for example, from the Corna Trentapassi or the Sanctuary of Santa Maria del Giogo, while to the north you enter the Valle Camonica, where there is the most impressive rock art complex of all. the European continent, the first Italian site to enter the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Lake Iseo is also home of the largest inhabited lake island in Europe, Monte Isola, a real mountain that rises from the waters of the lake, which has been recognized as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy” not only for its beauty of the landscape but also for the peace and quiet of the place, interrupted only in 2016 by the artistic installation “The Floating Piers” by the artist Christo, which allowed 1,400,000 people to reach Montisola by walking on a network of floating piers.
The extraordinary variety of the naturalistic, historical and cultural landscape of Lake Iseo also entails an extraordinary variety of experiences to live: from water sports to mountain sports, from cycling or horseback riding to relaxing on the beaches, from visits to medieval villages. , churches or castles, observing nature in the natural reserves, all accompanied by the exceptional flavors of typical local products, from DOP cheeses to cured meats, obviously to be paired with Franciacorta wines.
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