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he former fishing village of Ascona is situated beside a charming, sunny bay on Lake Maggiore, and, with its Old Town and lakeside promenade, is a popular yet exclusive holiday destination, with some of the most famous hotels in Switzerland. While Lake Maggiore offers a wide range of water sports, the unspoilt valleys in the hinterland are ideal for excursions and walks.

Ascona is on the north-west shore of Lake Maggiore, on the large delta created by the River Maggia. At an altitude of just 196 m, Ascona is the lowest town in Switzerland.

The old town centre, called Borgo, huddles round the church of San Pietro e Paolo, a columned basilica dating from the 16th century, whose high bell-tower or campanile is the symbol of Ascona. The dense network of alleyways, with shops of all kinds, leads directly down to the Piazza by the lakeside promenade, from where there is a beautiful view of Lake Maggiore. The promenade (Lungolago) at Ascona, with its rich merchants’ houses, arcades opening out on to the lake, and sun-soaked cafés, is considered the most beautiful section of Lake Maggiore to stroll along, and can be enjoyed even on sunny winter days, thanks to the mild climate here.

Ascona experienced an extraordinary period at the start of the 20th century when a colourful colony of assorted artists came together to live on the Monte Verità above Ascona and to preach the benefits of returning to nature. This settlement developed into an experimental arena for alternative lifestyles and art forms, which attracted revolutionaries, anarchists, philosophers, writers, vegetarians, poets, dancers and painters from all over the world. The psychoanalyst Karl Gustav Jung, the writer Hermann Hesse, the artists Alexej Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin are just some of the well-known personalities who lived in Ascona. The history of the Monte Verità is recorded in a museum.

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