Luino railway station

Germignaga is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 70 km northwest of Milan and about 20 km northwest of Varese. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,721 and an area of 6.2 km².The municipality of Germignaga contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Ronchetto, Ronchi, Fornace, Casa Moro, Premaggio and Mirandola Nuova. Germignaga borders the following municipalities: Brezzo di Bedero, Brissago-Valtravaglia, Cannero Riviera, Luino, Montegrino Valtravaglia.

The Margorabbia is the river (intermittent stream) of Valtravaglia, a valley in the province of Varese, Lombardy, Italy. It is a tributary of the Tresa which it joins a few hundred metres upstream of Lake Maggiore. The source is near Valganna. After forming a number of small lakes, including Lago di Ganna and Lago di Ghirla, its course continues through the Prealps of Varese until near Cunardo it is swallowed up by a system of caves: Pont Niv, Antro dei Morti, Grotte di Villa Radaelli and Grotte del Traforo. It emerges from underground near Ferrera di Varese and runs through the Valtravaglia crossing the valley’s communes of Grantola, Mesenzana and Germignaga. A cycle path has recently been constructed along this part of the river. The torrent has many affluents. The most important left side tributaries are the Rancina, the Boesio and the Gesone; from the right it receives the waters of the Boggione, the Lisascora and the Grantorella. Thanks to the wet and karstic areas it traverses, the Margorabbia has a generally high discharge and dries up far less frequently than many torrents. These feature made it a useful source of power for the mills and factories which grew up along its banks. The power hammers of Ghirla in the commune of Valganna are particularly well known. The river is subject to sudden and dramatic increases in its flow, becoming truly ‘torrential’. Very often bridges have been destroyed, or it has broken its banks and caused severe flooding in the Valtraviglia. Today many artificial embankments have been constructed along the Margorabbia for the purposes of flood protection.

The river Tresa leaves Lake Lugano at a point between Lavena Ponte Tresa in Italy and Ponte Tresa in Switzerland and flows into Lake Maggiore near Luino, a few hundred metres after joining the Margorabbia. At the outflow from Lake Lugano the river is crossed by a bridge which unites the Swiss and Italian parts of Ponte Tresa; a customs post divides them. The river is about 13 kilometres (8 mi) long, and for most of its course marks the boundary between the Italian Province of Varese and the Swiss canton Ticino. It passes through the Swiss communes of Ponte Tresa, Croglio and Monteggio, and the Italian communes of Lavena Ponte Tresa, Cremenaga and Luino. A dam on the river, known as the Creva dam serves two purposes: to use the difference in elevation between the lakes to produce hydropower, and as far as possible to regulate the flow of water into Lake Maggiore in order to avoid or limit the dangers of flooding.

Luino (Western Lombard: Lüin) is a small town and comune near the border with Switzerland on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore, in the province of Varese, in the Italian region of Lombardy. Luino received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1969. Luino is well known for its weekly market, currently held on Wednesdays, which is purportedly the largest of its kind in Europe. It is also a popular destination for tourists, especially from Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.

Croglio is a former municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 18 April 2021 the municipalities of Croglio, Monteggio, Ponte Tresa and Sessa merged to form Tresa.

Brezzo di Bedero is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Milan and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Varese. Brezzo di Bedero borders the following municipalities: Brissago-Valtravaglia, Cannero Riviera, Germignaga, Oggebbio, Porto Valtravaglia.

Colmegna railway station (Italian: Stazione di Colmegna) is a railway station in the comune of Luino, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is an intermediate stop on the standard gauge Cadenazzo–Luino line of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.

The Castelli di Cannero are three rocky islets of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. They are located off the shoreline of Cannero Riviera while administratively forming part of the Comune of Cannobio. They are known as castelli, or castles, in recognition of the ruined ancient fortifications which are found on two of them. They are all that remains of the Rocca Vitaliana fortress built between 1519 and 1521 by Ludovico Borromeo, who gave it this name in honour of an illustrious ancestor. The fortress was built over the ruins of an earlier castle, the Castello della Malpaga, which had been used since the 15th century as a refuge by the powerful, cruel Mazzarditi family. The five Mazzarditi brothers took control of the burgh of Cannobio between 1403 and 1404, terrorizing the inhabitants of the district with their acts of violence and piracy. This went on until the Viscontis laid siege to the fortress, starving the bandits into surrender. The old castle was razed to the ground, so that no trace of it remains. The Rocca Vitaliana was then built to defend the upper part of Lake Maggiore from incursions by the Swiss after the Duchy of Milan lost control of the Canton of Ticino. The main part of the castle, on the eastern islet, still has its massive walls built right on the water, following the irregular contours of the rock, and some towers of different shapes which still have part of their battlements. All that remains of the castle on the western islet is a ruined tower and some crumbling parts of the wall. The ruins cannot be visited as they are unsafe, but the view of them from the shore or from a boat continues to be compelling. The islands’ rocky shores are a magnet for adventurous bathers.

The Giona is a ‘torrent’, or intermittent stream, which rises on the slopes of Monte Tamaro, in the Swiss canton of Ticino. After about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), it enters the Italian province of Varese, forming the Val Veddasca before entering Lake Maggiore at Maccagno. Its course passes through the communes of Indemini in Switzerland and Veddasca, Curiglia con Monteviasco, Dumenza and Maccagno in Italy. The fish found in the river are predominantly Salmonidae, Cyprinidae and Cottidae, in particular brown trout, grayling, chub, vairone and European bullhead.The river is put to use as a source of hydropower.

Porto Valtravaglia is a comune (municipality) of c. 2,400 inhabitants in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northwest of Milan and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Varese. Porto Valtravaglia borders the following municipalities: Brezzo di Bedero, Brissago-Valtravaglia, Casalzuigno, Castelveccana, Duno, Ghiffa and Oggebbio. Dario Fo, Nobel Prize in literature of 1997, spent his childhood and adolescence here, and the little village played a central role in the development of his artistic specificity and production. In fact, it was the mix of people from different countries, working at the local, renowned blown glass factory and speaking an array of languages, that inspired the creation by Fo of the Grammelot, an original new idiom mixing a number of regional dialects. Listening to the stories told by the inhabitants of the village, typically fishermen, peasants, glass blowers and smugglers, then, introduced and trained him to the art of storytelling, of which he was a great representative. Eventually, it was again the local population, often busy with nightly jobs, who inspired one of his novels, "Il paese dei Mezarat" (the village of the bats).

Maccagno railway station (Italian: Stazione di Maccagno) is a railway station in the comune of Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is an intermediate stop on the standard gauge Cadenazzo–Luino line of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.

Dumenza is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 70 kilometers (43 mi) northwest of Milan and about 25 kilometers (16 mi) north of Varese, on the border with Switzerland. The municipality of Dumenza contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Runo (birthplace of painter Bernardino Luini), Due Cossani, Stivigliano, and Trezzino. Dumenza borders the following municipalities: Agra, Astano (Switzerland), Curiglia con Monteviasco, Luino, Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca, Miglieglia (Switzerland), Monteggio (Switzerland), Novaggio (Switzerland), Sessa (Switzerland).