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Omegna

Omega lies to the north of Lake Orta, enclosed between Mottarone and Strona Valley, on the plane created by Strona stream which flows into the emissary of the Lake, the Nigoglia river, which flows into the stream of the Toce and then into Lake Maggiore.

It is the country town of the Lake, the most populated and important: today, it has about 15000 inhabitants and it is known as the “household item town”, thanks to the industrial development of the last century. Lagostina, the market leader of the pressure cooker and then the “pastaiola”, but also Bialetti and its percolator, Girmi, Piazza and then Alessi. A patrimony of recent history to be protected and which today a wide expositive space in the Forum is consecrated to, thanks to the interest of the town council together with the Fondazione Museo Arti e Industria “Forum”.

Nevertheless, the story telling about Omenga is older: the roman origins of the town are clear even from its name, which derives from the ancient Latin Vicus Omenia, then Voemenia, names whose origin is unknown and that make many charming hypothesis appear. During the Middle Ages it was a fortified suburb with five gates. Today Porta Antica is the only undamaged one.

The most striking attraction point of the town is undoubtedly the promenade, a pedestrian area along the lake shores where you can enjoy arcades and views over the bay. There, at the source of Nigoglia, the river that flows up”, as the saying goes, the charming Piazza XXIV Aprile opens, with its ancient open gallery and its Medieval and Renaissance houses. In the old Bazzetta de Vemania dwellings, many important personalities used to stay such as Antonio Rosmini, who fell in love with these places and who died in Stresa, and his friend of the Milanese years Alessandro Manzoni, as well as the Torinese politician Massimo D’Azeglio, who married Manzoni’s daughter and who spent the last years of his life near Lake Maggiore, writing his memoirs.

The whole centre of the small town conserves some elegant dwellings, with wrought iron decorated balconies, portals, bas-relief decorations, arcades with capitals that make the visitors travel back in the past, as well as Renaissance buildings near seventeenth-century ones up to the baroque period. In Piazza Andrea Beltrami you can find the Baptistery and the “Collegiate church of Sant’Ambrogio”, a Romanesque church dated back to XIIth century, which conserves the façade and the stony bell tower with double and triple lancet windows.

Omegna is rich in history and popular traditions, a lake city with its boat landing stage that carry people to Orta and St. Julius Island during summer time; it is a city made of mountains which lies in the valley floor, facing the Mottarrone on the East side. A town rich in culture, loved by important personalities and which gave birth to Gianni Rodari, whose house became the destination of many visits.

A town which, in the last few decades, committed itself to protect its own historical and cultural patrimony without ignoring new interests and enterprises concerning industry; a literary Park consecrated to children in memory of Rodari, a Forum consecrated to the industrial production of household items, a new floral engagement acknowledged by the “Concorso Comuni Fioriti” in Piedmont, another engagement in the organization of cultural and traditional events such the feast of San Vito, the patron saint of the town, celebrated every year on the last Sunday of August, since the remains of the Saint had been carried and laid down in the Collegiate church of Sant’Ambrogio.

The Feast of San Vito is one of the most important popular events in Cusio area and, by the time, it is celebrated together with cultural, sport, play and religious events during the whole second half of August.

Moreover, the hamlets of Omegna are noteworthy.
In Crusinallo, towards Gravellona Toce, the widest and most populated hamlet with its 4000 inhtabitants), which had been apart till 1928, you can find the main household item industries: Lagostina, Alessi, Piazza, Bialetti, Girmi.

On the contray, Bagnella is situated on the lake shores at the mouth of Fiumetta stream and, as its name suggests, it represents the access to the public beach for the citizens. You can reach it from Omegna by a cycle-lane that you can also cover on foot, along the lake shores.

Agrano is situated between Omegna and Pettenasco, on the slopes of Mount Mottarone. It is famous for the discovery of a mummy, the dead woman from Agrano; today it is mainly frequented by the excursionists. One of the mountain pastures has recently been recovered by an agricultural cooperative, “Il glicine”, and it became a farm holiday centre as well as the seat of didactic activities for schools in the frame of Ecomuseo Cusius project.

Finally, we also mention other hamlets such as Cireggio, Borca and Canova del Vescovo.

Omegna, the small town on Lake Orta, is the fulcrum of the activities in the whole area; that`s why it is worth visiting and living.