Besides the lakes, art and culture

Charming excursion among art and culture, with Novara, the fortified Abbey San Nazzaro Sesia and its cloister the Oratory Santissima Trinità at Momo and... the magic of the rice-fields, building a checkered sea. You can taste typical products like Paniscia, Gorgonzola-cheese and the red wine Nebbiolo.

In Novara you can visit the two most important churches, see the courtyard of the medieval Town Hall and be amazed at the masterpiece of architect Alessandro Antonelli, the dome of the Basilica St. Gaudenzio. In the abbey of San Nazzaro Sesia, which is surrounded by rice-fields, you can see the wonderful façade with terracotta tiles and the cloister decorated with a fascinating fresco cycle dedicated to St. Benedict of Norcia. The rice-fields are one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the Po Valley and when they are flooded they “bring the blue of the sky on earth”. The Oratory of the Most Holy Trinity of Momo was commissioned by the monks of Cluny in the 12th C. and is decorated with a precious fresco cycle of the 16th C. An excursion in this territory can be the occasion to taste the typical products, some of them are famous all over the world, like Gorgonzola cheese and the local vine Nebbiolo, which is used for the best wines in Piedmont. Very tasty are also the typical Risotto Paniscia and the Salami della Duja.