Angera (, ; ) is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' located in the

province of Varese The province of Varese () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese (population of 80,857 inhabitants), but its largest city is Busto Arsizio. The headquarters of AgustaWestland, the compa ...

, in the

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

region of northern Italy. In

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times, it was an important lake port and road station. Formerly known as Anghiera, Angera received the title of city from Duke Ludovico il Moro in 1497. The town is situated on the eastern shore of

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the List of lakes of Italy, second largest lake in Italy and the List of lakes of Switzerland, largest in southern Sw ...

History

The earliest known inhabitants of the area were hunter-gatherers who made use of the cave known as the Wolf's Den (Tana del Lupo), at the foot of the cliffs. By the Roman era, Angera (then known as

Statio A statio (Latin for "position" or "location") is the place where, in the Roman Rite, a devotion to the stations of the Cross is celebrated. On specific station days, on which in the Late Roman Catholic liturgy of the Late Antiquity a devotion ...

, a place for changing horses) was an important lakeside port on a trading route, but by the fourth century it was in decline, and in 411 it was destroyed, along with

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, by the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

. By the eleventh century, the area had passed into the ownership of the

Archbishops of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Amb ...

, and the first castle was built on a strategic site above the town. The district came under the rule of the

House of Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia fr ...

in the thirteenth century, and in 1449, it was sold to the Borromeo family. It received the title of city from Duke Ludovico il Moro in 1497. Later the town was under Spanish rule for two centuries, followed by Austrian rule which lasted until 1861. By the year 1580, the city name was listed as Anghiera on the

Vatican Gallery of Maps The Gallery of Maps ( Italian: ''Galleria delle carte geografiche'') is a gallery located on the west side of the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican containing a series of painted topographical maps of Italy based on drawings by friar and geograp ...

. In 1776, the Italian physicist

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian chemist and physicist who was a pioneer of electricity and Power (physics), power, and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery a ...

first discovered methane in the marshlands of Angera while on his summer holidays. He succeeded in isolating the gas, which he called ''inflammable air from marshlands'', in 1778. It was what we nowadays call methane.

Main buildings

One of the main buildings in the town is the

Rocca Borromeo di Angera The Rocca Borromeo di Angera, or Rocca d'Angera, also called Borromeo Castle, is a Rocca (architecture), rocca on a hilltop above the town of Angera in the Province of Varese on the southern shores of Lago Maggiore. It has medieval origins and in ...

( Borromeo Castle), a castle overlooking

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided be ...

at the top of a limestone hill, on the side opposite to the town of Arona. It houses th
Museum of Dolls
including a collection of more than a thousand exhibits from the whole of Europe. The castle was founded in the early Middle Ages (before the 10th century) and was later owned by the

Della Torre The House of Della Torre (Torriani or Thurn) was an Italian noble family who dominated Lombardy and much of northern Italy between the 12th and 14th centuries. They owned the Lordship of Milan, before being expelled by the Visconti. They were membe ...

, Visconti (after the

Battle of Desio The Battle of Desio was fought on 21 January 1277 between the Della Torre and Visconti families for the control of Milan and its countryside. The battlefield is located near the modern Desio, a commune outside the city in Lombardy, Northern It ...

in 1277) and Borromeo families. There are two parish churches, Saint Maria Assunta and Saint Alessandro, and the town also houses an archaeological museum, based in an elegant building from the fifteenth century, serving as a repository for the region's most significant historical artefacts. It stands as the primary venue of the Widespread Museum of Angera. Visitors to the Museum can access a selection of publications focused on local history and archaeology. Th
Sanctuary of Madonna della Riva
is an octagonal building designed by Gerolamo Quadrio. It is built on the site where a fresco of the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, dating from 1443, was seen to sweat blood on 27 June 1657.

People

Peter Martyr d'Anghiera Peter Martyr d'Anghiera ( or ''ab Angleria''; ; ; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria,D'Anghiera, Peter Martyr. ''De Orbe Novo'' . Trans. Richard Eden a''The decades of the newe wo ...

(1457–1526), the historian of Spain, was born in Angera, as was Cristoforo Solari, called ''il Gobbo'' (c.1460–1527), sculptor and architect. Teresa Ciceri Castiglioni (1750–1821) the inventor and agronomist was born here. The Italian footballer Francesco Russo also comes from here.

Twin towns

* Viviers, France

Gallery

References

External links

Churches in Angera

The ''Rocca Borromeo''

{{authority control Cities and towns in Lombardy