Church of St Michael of Archangel

From Passignano, we took the ferry on a twenty minute ride to Isola Maggiore, which is the second largest island in Lake Trasimeno, but the only one continuously inhabited. Maggiore became famous after Saint Francis of Asisi spent 40 days in isolation during Lent. The island eventually became a place of pilgrimage. A Franciscan monastery was established, which is when the village come into existence. Nowadays, it is not such a popular religious destination and relies on tourism to keep its economy ticking over.

The island is not very big and can be crossed from one end to the other in about 30 minutes on foot. The ferry sails around to the other side of the island from Passignano, where the main village is situated along the waterfront. The island is effectively a hill. Moving inland is also moving uphill, so we were lucky that island is also well wooded providing shade on a hot summer’s day. A couple of hours is probably all that is needed to cover the sites, although some visitors stay overnight at the local hotels.

Before the Franciscan monastery was built, the church of the Archangel Michael was the oldest religious building on the island, siting at the island's highest point. There are several other chapels doted around.

The Franciscans gave up the monastery and it was bought and by a rich senator, Count Gugliemi, in 1887 as the basis of a lavish and larger summer residence with a complex of buildings. From Passignano, the Gugliemi Castle looks very impressive. The residence was retained by the family until 1975, when it was donated to the state, which in turn decided to sell it to developers to make a luxury hotel destination in 1990. It seems that over many years the building was left to rot, while vegetation made its way into the structure and even within the cement between the bricks. As part of the preparation for renovation, the structure was chemically treated to kill off the vegetation, before it was realised that the vegetation was effectively keeping the building together. In 2010, the developer went into receivership. Today, the interior ceilings are propped up by huge wooden logs and the exterior is covered by rusty scaffolding.

This is the last entry for Italy as we leave for Lyon, France.