Porto Lesa

Lesa is a comune in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about 110 kilometres northeast of Turin and about 45 kilometres north of Novara. Lesa borders the following municipalities: Belgirate, Brovello-Carpugnino, Ispra, Massino Visconti, Meina, Nebbiuno, Ranco, and Stres Lesa is situated between Meina and Belgirate in an inlet delimited in the north from Belgirate, to the oriental slopes of the Motta Rossa. It is a place of medieval origin, a feud of the Borromeo and for a period it was the capital of the Vergante; by the lake, it is easily recognized for the slender white bell tower of the church of San Martino. Famous is the neoclassic Villa Stampa, where Alessandro Manzoni has sojourned, positioned in the centre of the plaza in front of the lakefront. No less important are the neoclassic eighteenth-century Villa Noseda and the neogothic Villa Tadini with the railing in liberty style.