Often overlooked, overshadowed by the glamor of the larger lakes, Italy’s diminutive Lake Orta is only seven miles long and a mile wide. It lies surrounded by forested hills, west of Lake Maggiore and well out of the tourist flow. On its southern shore is the lovely medieval town of Orta San Giulio, an exceptionally picturesque village of gray stone and leaning balconies. Cars are banned from its few streets, which converge in a lively little waterfront square, Piazza Motta. It’s from here that boats shuttle across to the single island in the lake’s center.

Water laps at the base of the mossy stone buildings that cover tiny Isola San Giulio, surrounding the 12^th-century Basilica di San Giulio. Locals claim that San Giulio drove away the island’s snakes — and a dragon — in order to build the church there. The saint is buried inside, where there is also an exceptional carved marble pulpit. A single stone street — the Way of Silence — winds atmospherically among the island’s old buildings.

Back in Orta San Giulio, climb from Piazza Motta to the Sacro Monte, where 20 chapels and a church are dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. Scattered through a nature reserve of beech, linden and pine trees, these hold terra-cotta sculptures — more than 300 figures in all — depicting the saint’s life. The tradition of Sacri Monti, mountainside sanctuaries of chapels with statuary scenes, is unique to this part of Italy, and this is one of nine that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites.