The Brissago Islands

24 May 2019

The Brissago Islands (Isole di Brissago) in Lake Maggiore and the Botanical Park on San Pancrazio, the largest island, are unique in Switzerland.

The origins of the magnificent Botanical Garden date back to 1885, when Antoinette (1856-1948), the illegitimate daughter of Tsar Alexander II (1818-1881) and Wilhelmina Bayer, and her husband, the Irish aristocrat Richard Fleming St. Léger, bought the islands and created the park.

The German merchant Max Emden (1874-1940) bought the islands in 1927. He also built the villa.

(Source: G. Maspoli, ´Il Parco botanico delle isole di Brissago´in GSK, Kunst + Architektur in der Schweiz, Botanische Gärten, Bern, 2019, Nr. 3).