In the middle of Lake Maggiore lie two small islands that look as if the south has found a secret hiding place here.
Palm trees reach for the sky, bamboo rustles in the wind, camellias and rhododendrons bloom, and eucalyptus trees release their spicy fragrance. Narrow paths wind through lush greenery, past rocks, and down again and again to the lake.
The Brissago Islands are a botanical wonder – and one of those places in Ticino where you can forget for a few hours that you are even in Switzerland.
The two islands are called Isola Grande , also known as San Pancrazio, and Isola Piccola , which bears the name Sant'Apollinare or Isola dei Conigli. Only the larger island is open to visitors. It is home to the Botanical Garden of the Canton of Ticino.
A garden on an island
The secret to this unusual plant life lies in the climate.
The Brissago Islands benefit from the Insubric climate: Lake Maggiore stores heat in the summer and releases it again in the winter, while the Alps protect the islands. This creates an exceptionally mild microclimate.
With an average annual temperature of around 14 degrees Celsius, the islands are among the warmest places in Switzerland. Plants can grow outdoors here that one would otherwise expect to find in the Mediterranean or in subtropical regions.
And so the walk becomes a little trip around the world.
One path leads through Mediterranean vegetation, another is reminiscent of Australia. Then plants from South Africa appear, later from America or Asia.
You don't have to get on a plane for that.
All you need is a ship.
The Baroness's Island
Today's garden is closely linked to an extraordinary woman: Antoinette de Saint Léger .
In 1885, she and her husband acquired the Brissago Islands. The Baroness began transforming the then rocky island into an exotic garden. She had soil brought to the island, paths laid out, and rare plants from various parts of the world planted.
What appears today as a naturally grown paradise was therefore largely the work of a person with an unusual vision.
The Baroness lived on the island as if in her own little kingdom.
Artists and writers came to visit. The island became a meeting place for the cultural scene of the time. And with each new plant, the rock in the lake transformed into an increasingly exotic garden.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that such an idiosyncratic personality shaped this place.
The islands have always been a little different.
A villa straight out of a novel
Later came Max Emden .
The Hamburg department store magnate acquired the islands in 1927 and had the existing house largely replaced by a magnificent new building. The present-day Villa Emden was built in the neoclassical style under the direction of the Berlin architect Alfred Breslauer.
Carrara marble, artistic inlays and an orangery transformed the island into a private retreat of great elegance.
Therefore, when you walk through the garden today, you don't just encounter plants.
One also encounters the traces of those people who created their own personal dream of paradise here.
The Witches of Brissago
But a place like this in Ticino would hardly be complete without a legend.
And the Brissago Islands have their witches.
An old legend says that the witches of Brissago are responsible for the heavy rains. When sun and rain are simultaneously present, the witches are said to be secretly washing their laundry somewhere.
A peculiar image.
The sun shines over the lake, while at the same time heavy drops fall on the leaves. The rain moves over the mountains, fog rises, and Lake Maggiore begins to glisten.
Perhaps it is the witches who hang their laundry out to dry somewhere among palm trees and bamboo.
The story is of course a legend – but it fits this place remarkably well. Without the abundant rain, the lush greenery of the Brissago Islands would be virtually unimaginable.
And who knows?
Perhaps the next summer rain is indeed just a sign that the witches are on the move again.
A garden full of secrets
Those who delve deeper into the botanical garden will discover plants that tell their own stories.
There are sections with Mediterranean plants, plants from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, America, and Asia. The section "Symbols, Myths, and Magic" has a particularly mysterious feel.
Here you will encounter plants that have historically been associated with healing, rituals, superstition, and even witchcraft. Hemlock, for example, gained a deadly reputation and was linked to esoteric practices.
Nestled amidst dense greenery, ancient trees, and damp shade, the term "magic garden" suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.
An island with a very ancient history
However, the history of the Brissago Islands begins long before Baroness Saint Léger.
Archaeological finds prove settlement at least since Roman times. In the Middle Ages, there were even two churches on the islands. At times, the inhabitants enjoyed a degree of autonomy from the rulers of Milan and later from the Swiss Confederation.
There were even plans to build a dynamite factory on the islands. The nitroglycerin was intended for use in the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel. However, the idea was never realized.
So many stories in so little land.
The small island in the shadow of the large one
From Isola Grande, the view repeatedly falls upon the smaller island.
Isola Piccola is largely untouched and not currently open to visitors. It is also known as Sant'Apollinare or Isola dei Conigli.
This keeps her a little mysterious.
You can view them from a boat or from the shore, but you can't simply walk through their vegetation.
Perhaps that's quite appropriate.
Because sometimes a little secret should remain a secret.
A journey that only takes twenty minutes
The Brissago Islands are easily accessible by boat from Ascona. The crossing takes approximately 20 minutes. The perspective changes even during the journey.
The noise from the shore fades away.
The lake continues to expand.
The mountains recede into the background.
And then the islands appear before you – green, densely overgrown and almost unreal.
Then the ship docks.
You get out.
And suddenly a little journey around the world begins.
When the lake becomes still
The Brissago Islands are perhaps not at their most beautiful when you have seen as much as possible.
But what if you just stop at some point?
Under a palm tree.
Next to an old tree.
On the shores of Lake Maggiore.
The water glitters between the leaves, a bird calls somewhere, and clouds gather over the mountains.
Perhaps a summer rain is coming soon.
Perhaps the witches of Brissago are doing their laundry.
And as the first drops fall onto the exotic leaves, you realize what makes this place so special:
The Brissago Islands are not simply a botanical garden.
They are a small piece of the South, stranded in the middle of the lake – and perhaps a place where nature, history and legend still whisper to each other.
