Once a craggy fishing outpost inhabited by churchmen and vegetable growers, the aristocratic Borromeo family transformed Isola Bella in the 17th century as a floating palace and garden retreat that could rival Versailles. The construction of Palazzo Borromeo, with its frescoed salons and shell-lined grottoes, set the tone. But it was the design of the formal baroque gardens, climbing in 10 dramatic terraces to form a truncated pyramid, that turned the island into a destination on bucket lists to this day.
By the 18th and 19th centuries, Isola Bella had become an essential stop on the Grand Tour, drawing European nobility, writers, and artists to its shores. Alongside Isola Madre, its sister island, it helped put the lakeside town of Stresa on the map as a cosmopolitan retreat — a vibe that still lingers today.
More than half the island is dedicated to gardens — an extraordinary feat of landscaping built on artificial terraces that seem to hover above the water. This horticultural marvel seduces visitors not just with its visual drama, but with a rich layering of seasonal color. Spring brings camellias, rhododendrons, and roses; summer follows with bursts of citrus and rare subtropical blooms made possible by the lake’s protective microclimate.
At the heart of it all is the Teatro Massimo, a sculptural crescendo of obelisks, fountains, shell-lined niches, and statues that feels more opera set than garden centerpiece. The experience is multisensory. Birdsong mingles with the hush of fountains, flower-scented breezes catch between limestone colonnades. Amid all this splendor, it’s often the unexpected appearance of a certain bird that defines visits.
Nothing captures Isola Bella’s sense of enchantment more vividly than its white peacocks, roaming freely among terraces and topiary like feathered ghosts.
Contrary to popular belief, these birds are not albino, but leucistic — a genetic condition that strips their feathers of pigment while leaving their eyes and skin unaltered. This gives them a surreal, snow-white appearance, with iridescent feathers that shimmer in soft light. Born yellow as peachicks, they gradually fade into ivory elegance.
These birds are almost always of the Indian peafowl species (Pavo cristatus) — a species revered not only for its physical beauty but for the cultural symbolism it carries. In Christian tradition, the white peacock has been associated with Christ’s resurrection and purity. In Buddhism, it embodies nirvana, untouched by the material world. And in Hinduism, it’s a bringer of luck, prosperity, and spiritual clarity.
In secular symbolism, the white peacock often stands for purity of mind and spirit, an apt metaphor for a place so untouched by time and so carefully designed to elevate the senses.
While the statues may be fixed in marble poses, the white peacocks are the island’s living sculpture. Guests often pause mid-tour to watch them glide across the Teatro Massimo or perch beneath a camphor tree.
It’s this interplay between cultivated beauty and natural wonder that gives Isola Bella its staying power.
