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00:00Jewels of the Alps, the five largest lakes of Upper Italy, born of glaciers, shaped by water,
00:28tamed by the human hand.
00:34They tell stories of nature and culture.
00:42In the rhythm of the seasons, they all show a changing face, each in its own way.
00:55A good 60 kilometers northwest of Milan lies Lake Maggiore.
01:21It extends from the edge of the Alps all the way to the Po River plain.
01:27The lake is 65 kilometers long and at some spots just 2 kilometers wide.
01:33The majority of it is in Italy.
01:36Its northern end, however, is part of Switzerland, a lake in two countries, united as a single
01:42ecosystem.
01:51Medieval settlements and untouched nature define the area, a region full of contrasting landscapes
01:58and traditions.
02:05Lake Maggiore is known for its islands, villas and magnificent gardens.
02:16Lake Maggiore's shoreline speaks of tourism and La Dolce Vita, but just a stone's throw
02:21from the shore, wilderness awaits.
02:25Here on the western side of the lake lies the largest national park in Europe, the Val Grande.
02:32October.
02:33While the vacationers on the lake dwindled, the mountains above were abuzz with animal life.
02:48Stags had now entered the doe's territory to mate.
02:52In the summer months, the males live apart from the females.
03:00The stag urinates to mark his territory and distribute his pheromones.
03:04He will be in rut for 5 to 6 weeks and lose up to a fourth of his weight during that period.
03:15Only the strongest, the dominant male, gets to mate with the does, but younger rivals repeatedly
03:29challenge him.
03:34On the eastern side of the lake, in the little mountain village of Garabiolo, a group of young
03:53animal conservationists regularly meet.
04:00They call their group IORCHI, an acronym of the members' nicknames.
04:05Their most important equipment, camera traps.
04:14The friends mostly meet up on weekends.
04:17Riccardo, Roberto and Gabriele all study biology and veterinary medicine in Turin and Milan.
04:24They all grew up here on Lago Maggiore.
04:37They station as many of the cameras as possible in open terrain, which enables them to get
04:42a precise overview of the wildlife of the region.
04:46We think we'll see deer here, maybe even stags.
04:57This open area is a former orchard.
04:59They're sure to come eat from this apple tree, wild boars too.
05:05It's very important to know which animals are present in our environment.
05:16We need to study them, to understand how to manage them in our forests.
05:21To know when it's necessary to intervene, when are there too many or too few.
05:26It's just good to know what animals live here, to study them, to better understand their behaviour
05:34and habits.
05:41When the sensor registers movement, it triggers the camera to start filming.
05:49It's very easy to understand their body.
06:07If we see it, we'll see the camera and then see if we can see it.
06:09It's a very easy way to see the camera.
06:12It's a very easy way to see.
06:14It's a very easy way to see.
06:18The next day, Gabriela was now on patrol alone.
06:40Equipped with a telescope and provisions,
06:42he started his ascent of Monte Lema in the hinterland of the lake.
06:46The 1,600-metre-high mountain lies on the border with Switzerland.
06:51Many of its animal residents are timid and often well camouflaged,
06:56such as these chamois goats.
07:04It's always a great thrill to see wild animals in their natural habitat,
07:10especially during the day when you can really study them,
07:14because it's not so easy to observe them in the wild.
07:18And this is not a protected area, like a big national park,
07:23where it's easier to observe them up close.
07:26So it's very exciting.
07:28The chamois are very well adapted to the mountain pastures.
07:40These skillful climbers live in the border area where the timberline meets the rocky peak region.
07:46Here they find grasses and herbs and enjoy the last spring sunshine.
08:03Fall brings great changes to the woodlands surrounding Lake Maggiore.
08:07The Val Grande National Park is then suddenly ablaze with colour.
08:12The bright pigments come to the fore when the green chlorophyll in the leaves dissipates
08:17and they stop transpiring water.
08:20All the moisture now remains in the ground, supporting new growth.
08:35At this time, even dead wood gives rise to new life, mushrooms.
08:39Undisturbed, nature dances to its own rhythm of growth and decay.
08:54But that wasn't always the case.
09:12Until the Second World War, the region's forests were commercially exploited
09:17and inhabited by woodcutters.
09:19The remains of their dwellings still pepper the woods.
09:23But when they left, the wilderness soon reclaimed the land.
09:36An asp viper needs a winter hideaway.
09:40These poisonous vipers are common in the region,
09:43but they're much less dangerous than reputed.
09:50Instead of hunting prey, the snake was now staking out a subterranean layer.
09:55There it would stay for the coming months.
09:58While the nights were growing cold in the mountains,
10:14temperatures down on the lake were still comfortably warm.
10:20Even in winter, snow usually only falls in the surrounding peaks of the Monte Rosa Massif,
10:26an over 4,500-meter-high mountain range on the Italian-Swiss border.
10:33Each island even has its own microclimate,
10:38with temperatures an average of 4 degrees Celsius warmer than on the mainland.
10:43That's why here in the middle of the lake lies a piece of paradise,
10:49the gardens of the Isola Bella, the most striking of the three Borromean islands.
10:55Since the 17th century, this has been the summer residence of the Italian aristocrat family Borromeo.
11:07Few can boast a way to work as beautiful and uplifting as that of Gianfranco Giustina,
11:12head gardener and unofficial lord of the manor.
11:16Every morning he steps upon his stage, the palace and its splendid Borromeo gardens,
11:22legacy of the house of Borromeo.
11:25Everything needed to turn the rocky island into a green masterpiece.
11:30Soil, stones and wood had to be brought over specially.
11:35When I first came here to work, I found this historic garden, fascinating but very tired.
11:50It needed renovation and new ideas, needed to be reshaped,
11:56but above all, it needed to be given botanical importance.
12:03For his efforts, the master gardener has received the highest honors in his field,
12:09including the UK Royal Horticultural Society's Veitch Memorial Medal,
12:15the Nobel Prize of Historical Gardens.
12:22But the garden is not the only attraction on Isola Bella.
12:26The island is also home to the white peacock.
12:40These regal birds have been bred here since the early 18th century.
12:45With their feather crown, they symbolize royalty, as well as beauty, wealth and immortality.
12:52Now, at the tail end of the tourist season, they were reclaiming the island's pathways.
13:08Farther out on the lake lies Bella's wild neighbor, the Isola Madre.
13:14At eight hectares, Lake Maggiore's largest island,
13:17it is home to the real secret of the Borromean archipelago.
13:21Over 2,000 different species of plant thrive here,
13:26and they all originate from a very special place.
13:32To which visitors are strictly forbidden entry.
13:36This is basically the heart of the garden.
13:43It's very important.
13:45It's like Noah's Ark, with a great variety of plants.
13:50All the primary work is done here.
13:53The first plants, the first seeds, they were planted here,
13:59because it never gets cold.
14:01There's enough sunlight.
14:04It is the optimal place to acclimate plants from all over the world.
14:20Ideal conditions for plants and animals.
14:23But in recent years, changes have become more apparent.
14:32We're already feeling the effects of climate change here,
14:35especially the very hot summers with very little rain.
14:41It's a very fast-moving change,
14:43with consequences that force us to think about it.
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21:14The change in climate is worrying because we don't have the rainfall we used to.
21:19It's much too dry.
21:21If this continues, it will be very sad.
21:25Then we'd have to water the vines because of the drought.
21:28It's been a year of very little water, and if it goes on like this, it will be very concerning.
21:35Twice a day the men visit the vats to circulate the vats to circulate the wine.
21:43This involves taking wine from the bottom of the vat and pouring it back in at the top.
21:48This releases the carbon dioxide created by the fermentation process and keeps the juice and skins of the grapes in circulation.
21:57The skins are included so that their red pigment colors the wine.
22:02This age-old winemaking process is called rimontagio in Italian, reassembly.
22:08It also enables the tannins to be absorbed in the wine.
22:12The more frequently the wine is circulated, the more intensive the color.
22:17The wine maturing in these casks is Nebbiolo, one of the oldest Italian grape varieties.
22:32The ancient Romans are said to have grown them for wine as well.
22:36Also an interesting color, nice depth. Here, have a taste.
22:42In late fall, the lake is often abandoned.
22:54Heavy rains can change its face within just hours.
23:09In summertime, consistent winds create stable weather.
23:14But in the fall, conditions fluctuate wildly.
23:22The weather changes abruptly, bringing torrential rains.
23:26And even the arid summer does not compensate for this.
23:49The heavy downpours cause the rivers to swell.
23:52They flow down from the mountains, a natural irrigation system for the Alps.
23:57They are the European continent's largest freshwater reservoir.
24:01The river Tocce also springs from the Alps.
24:06It is the water-richest tributary of Lake Maggiore.
24:09In the fall, its waters regularly run high, flushing sediment and flotsam into the lake.
24:26This creates a recurring seasonal phenomenon.
24:30A river-borne smoothie of mud, scree and driftwood.
24:34Everything the Tocce takes with it on its long way down.
24:38The collection of floating jumble presents a hazard to ships and watersports enthusiasts.
24:51But for many aquatic birds on the lake, the hunk of drifting junk provides a welcome float and food source.
25:12The water level of the lake plays a major role in maintaining balance in a special region to the north of Lake Maggiore.
25:31Here at the north end of the lake, the Swiss part, near Locarno and Ascona, just behind the tourist-friendly shoreline, lies a precious nature reserve.
25:50The Bolla di Maggiore, a swampland fed by the Verzasca and Ticino rivers, which empty into Lake Maggiore here.
26:01It is regarded as one of the most valuable wetlands areas in Switzerland.
26:06Home, refuge and feeding grounds for more than 200 different bird species.
26:11Mainly aquatic birds, such as cormorants and grey herons, nest here.
26:27With its rich biodiversity, the wetlands offer abundant food for all.
26:34Including the perhaps best-known local aquatic bird, the mallard duck.
26:40It feeds primarily on plant matter, except for when it happens to turn up a special treat.
26:50When trawling the bottom, its beak acts as a sieve straining the water for bits of solid food.
26:57When the exact somewhere is caught, and within super dust and teeth are algunos clenacciates in Hindernan N.
27:03It's just enough that fish Nein incompatibles hanya between 10 min and 20 min and 20 min,
27:18A nature reserve since 1974, the Bolla di Magadino is mainly left to its own devices.
27:40The water level of Lake Maggiore has the most significant influence on the delicate ecosystem,
27:46and it's an ongoing bone of contention between Italy and Switzerland.
27:51In the summer, the Italians keep its water level up artificially, as a reservoir for agriculture.
27:58But that often leads to unwanted flooding at the northern Swiss end.
28:05The water level is regulated on the southern end, at the Weir by Miorina, the lake's only outlet.
28:12An Italian consortium decides when to open and close it.
28:16Ecologists bemoan the artificial controls.
28:19They not only compromise the wetlands, but also damage the fish's habitat.
28:29Fishing has traditionally been a big part of life on Lago Maggiore.
28:34But on the Isola dei Pescatore, Fisherman's Island, only a few professional fishermen remain.
28:41Marco Rodella is one of them.
28:44I feel right at home on the lake.
28:47For me, being at home and being on the lake is the same thing.
28:52I feel at ease on the water.
28:54I'm not afraid of anything there, even when the weather's bad.
28:58I've never felt fear on the lake.
29:01I feel safe on the water, no problem at all.
29:09Marco's grandfather before him was a fisherman on Lake Maggiore.
29:14Every evening, all year round, Marco sails out to cast his nets.
29:19Only then, when the sport and tourist boat traffic thins out and the lake calms down, do the fish venture out of hiding.
29:36Fishing on Lake Maggiore is based on whitefish.
29:39We catch them when they move around in search of food.
29:42That's the moment we cast our nets.
30:01And nighttime fishing offers another advantage.
30:05But the fish can't see the nets so well in the dark.
30:15In a few hours at about two in the morning, Marco would return to draw in the nets.
30:21The quality and quantity of the catch is always a surprise.
30:30Lago Maggiore fish stocks are good.
30:33In recent years, Wells catfish numbers especially have increased.
30:37A predatory fish, it's actually an interloper from Eastern Europe, with a voracious appetite.
30:45But it hasn't yet managed to usurp the native fish, such as pike, perch, and roach.
30:53While fishing is a year-round activity on Lake Maggiore, in the mountains above the lake, farming takes a fall break.
31:15Up through the Valle Maggiore and on past Gordevio, at an altitude of almost 2,000 meters, lies a refuge for hikers and goats.
31:30The Alpenimi.
31:32The Alpenimi.
31:33You can get there only on foot, a several-hour uphill hike, or charter a helicopter.
31:39Supplies have to be brought up one load at a time.
31:43And now, just before the first frost, wood for heating was the key commodity.
31:48The flight takes only minutes, and delivers enough goods for many weeks ahead.
31:53The Alpine Lodge is run by Pietro Zanoli, a former banker who took it over from his uncle.
32:08Since 1999, he's been up here every spring through late fall.
32:14I stay up here until late November. It gets very cold.
32:32At an outdoor temperature of minus 20 Celsius, you have to heat the place.
32:39We're at the timberline here, so we need a good store of wood.
32:51When his uncle retired from running the Alpine cabin and cheese dairy, Pietro jumped at the chance to move up to the mountain.
32:59As a banker in the high finance sector, he was accustomed to first-class travel and luxury hotels.
33:06But he always really yearned for the simple life.
33:10Here, he found the solitude and tranquility he had always longed for.
33:15And, arguably, the best view there is of Lago Maggiore.
33:19Now, I have to see where my goats are.
33:35They were up here the whole time until the weather went bad a few days ago.
33:39Then they went down below.
33:41No goats in sight, unfortunately.
33:52They've either gone further down or they've gone the other way.
33:58There's another path down there, and they've gone to the other side.
34:01If they were still here in the cauldron, we'd hear them, because almost all of them have a bell on.
34:16The goats need to live in nature, with nature, to profit from nature and to just be goats.
34:22They're actually wild animals, originally.
34:26They lived in the wilderness.
34:28Up here, they can live almost 100% true to that.
34:38Until winter, Pietro's goats move about freely in nature.
34:42He hurts them together only in summer, twice a day, for milking.
34:46But the cheesemaking season was now over.
34:54Even when the goats go down to the valley to escape the rain, the alpine peak is hardly abandoned.
35:00On the contrary, the native residents can then reclaim their terrain.
35:11Ibex, also a species of goat.
35:16In the fall, they have to build up fat reserves to get them through the winter.
35:23Ibex can survive even the cold, hard, high mountain winters.
35:29Their coat has a layer of short, thick top hair and a warm undercoat.
35:35Temperatures have to drop to minus 35 degrees Celsius before they start to freeze.
35:40By the mid-19th century, the kings of the Alps had been hunted almost to extinction.
35:48Now the Ibex population of the whole alpine region numbers about 40,000.
35:53They were resettled here a good hundred years ago.
36:03At night, the fishermen are the only ones out and about on the lake.
36:09Just before dawn, most of the islands are still deep in slumber.
36:13And before the first ferry brings visitors from the mainland, the port still belongs to its residents.
36:23The port still belongs to its residents.
36:24The port still belongs to its residents.
36:25The port still belongs to its residents.
36:30Only a handful of families now live year-round on Fisherman's Island.
36:40Most of them earn their living from tourism.
36:45Marco Rodella and his brother had been in the kitchen since 4 a.m., processing the night's catch.
37:05Now, in the fall, the nets were fuller than in the summer.
37:10But Marco wouldn't say if fishing earns him a viable income.
37:16The fact is, most of the fish served in Lake Maggiore restaurants comes from elsewhere.
37:22Only a few of them have local lake fish on the menu.
37:27Fresh fish from the lake is more expensive than fish from aqua farming.
37:33Restaurants that want to have the competitive edge use farmed fish, which is cheaper.
37:40It's a purely financial decision.
37:42That's why it's hard to find lake fish on offer.
37:48That's the catch from this morning.
37:50Pigo, pike and roach.
37:54We'll marinate and then broil it.
37:56Many thanks.
37:57As the work day draws to a close for some, over on the mainland, others are just getting going.
38:10Across from Fisherman's Island lies one of Lake Maggiore's largest tourist regions,
38:16Stresa and Verbania, already a popular vacation spot in the 18th century.
38:22Nobility from throughout Europe had summer houses here.
38:26Hotels now inhabit their little palazzi.
38:29Such as the Arnuvo Villa Albergo Azzalea.
38:34The interior design has changed little over the decades.
38:38But these pre-loved locales still attract guests drawn to the charm and luster of a century ago.
38:45It's a winning concept, but not everywhere on Lago Maggiore.
39:09At the north end of the lake lies the Swiss film festival city Locarno.
39:14Much of which still exudes a 1960s jet set flair.
39:19But here where movie stars including Marlene Dietrich once took a dip in the pool,
39:25nature has now reclaimed the terrain.
39:28Once an icon of luxury and lakeside dolce vita for the super rich,
39:34now a melancholic site of dereliction.
39:37Albergo Locarno, the most exclusive grand hotel in town,
39:43now stands empty and forlorn.
39:48Since it closed in 2005, the last director and his former head concierge seldom pay the old lady a visit.
39:56But every time they do stop by, it's clear she's lost a little bit more of her former glory.
40:08Despite the historical significance of the site,
40:11in 1925 the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany met here to negotiate the Locarno treaties.
40:20The famous annual film festival was always a glamorous affair, remembers hotel director Urst Zimmermann.
40:28I was the director here for seven years, and this is my second wife.
40:37And I'd marry her again in a heartbeat.
40:40And awaken her from Sleeping Beauty's slumber, if I could.
40:45If I had enough small change.
40:47What we need here is a prince who can kiss her and break the spell.
40:51And not just a kiss, but several million in cash as well.
41:00The tourist industry has changed.
41:02Most hotel guests come for just a day or two and book on short notice.
41:07No large hotel can survive on that.
41:10The old lakeside grand hotels have basically fallen out of fashion.
41:40The special aura of Lago Maggiore and its surroundings has always attracted a wide variety of people.
41:57In around 1900 in the hills above Ascona, now home to a Bauhaus hotel,
42:02a group of alternative lifestyle pioneers pursued their ideal of freedom, creativity and harmony with nature.
42:11At their enclave Monte Verita, Mount Truth, they countered industrialized society,
42:17wore liberating reform movement dress, lived in simple wooden houses and believed in the magic of the site.
42:24And the mountain appears to have lost none of its enchantment.
42:33Up here in the former vineyards, an exotic plant now grows, Camellia sinensis, tea.
42:42Camellia has been at home on Lake Maggiore as a decorative plant since the 18th century.
42:48But only in recent years has it been cultivated here as tea.
42:54People are usually astonished.
43:00It's totally unexpected to find tea growing and a tea house up on Monte Verita.
43:07Most of them are very interested and are glad they can drink a cup of tea here.
43:13Many of them also ask a lot of questions.
43:16They find answers in a Japanese tea ceremony in the tea house.
43:26An outgrowth of Zen philosophy, the minimalist surroundings, shift the focus to introspection.
43:32The ritualized form, passed down over centuries, promotes a deep state of concentration.
43:42Please take a seat.
43:46Corinna Densler has run the tea house since 2006.
43:50Asian culture is surprisingly suited to the environs around Lake Maggiore.
44:01The particulars of the climate, plenty of rain in the fall and an acidic soil,
44:06offer optimal conditions for the tea to thrive.
44:09Paolo Zacchera's plantation lies in the Ossola Valley, Val d'Ossola.
44:16This is where the Denslers get the seedlings for their garden on Monte Verita.
44:21Tea plants can live for many hundreds of years.
44:27This used to be grazing land for dairy cows, but farming here is no longer profitable.
44:40So, three years ago, Paolo Zacchera decided to start growing tea.
44:45We want to see whether the plants can really grow here.
44:49We've been very successful in the last three years, but three years are not a hundred.
44:53So, we're hoping for long-term success.
44:59The yield is still very small.
45:02The leaves of 1,400 plants result in only about one to two kilos of tea.
45:08But the plantation could prove to be a viable organic alternative for the local farming industry.
45:15Here, in the shadow of the Val Grande National Park.
45:18In its untamed canyons, the terrain is still quite close to its original rugged state.
45:26The tributaries of Lago Maggiore, the Cicino, Toce, Maggia and Verzasca rivers,
45:33come from the Alps and wend their way down through this wild country.
45:37Their primal force gives an immediate impression of the force of nature that first shaped this region,
45:58after the Ice Age glaciers melted.
46:02The Ice Age
46:04The Ice Age
46:05The Ice Age
46:06The Ice Age
46:09The Ice29
46:10The Aquaman
46:20The closer the powerful stream gets to Lago Maggiore, the gentler its course becomes.
46:39The water makes its way over striking rock formations.
46:44The riverbed is made of granite-like gneiss, polished smooth by the current.
46:56The people who've settled this region have always had to make do with what nature has
47:01to offer.
47:03They built the traditional local stone houses from the light gray rock so prevalent all around
47:09Lake Maggiore.
47:11Called rustiki, the little rustic homes are made of gneiss and granite.
47:17The Ponte dei Salti, a 17th century bridge, is also made of this local material.
47:23It spans the Verzasca, which, as all the rivers here, flows into Lake Maggiore.
47:29The whole region of the lake is peppered with big stone quarries.
47:33The most famous ones are in the Ossola Valley, on the western side of the lake.
47:39In addition to marble and granite, mainly Biola Bianca is quarried here, a light-colored
47:45paradise.
47:47Antonio Voltan, known as Egno, regularly visits the owner of the quarry to select material
47:54for his work.
47:55He's one of the region's last traditional roofers.
47:58On this day, he was here to order stone for a job in the neighboring village.
48:12You need a lot of experience to see how a stone is made, how it's veined, whether it's worth
48:24hewing this or that stone, so that you can get slabs out of it.
48:28Otherwise, if it cracks at the wrong place, you always have to look at the veins themselves
48:36on the stone.
48:37And with time, you develop an eye for it, you gain experience.
48:45Egno selects the best bits.
48:48The old material has a very up-to-date price.
48:51Natural stone costs about 250 euros per square meter.
49:00Stone from here used to be transported on the lake, then down across the Po River plain
49:05all the way to Milan.
49:08And the city's famous cathedral is made of Lago Maggiore marble.
49:15The mountain village in Traña.
49:18The 68-year-old roofer mostly does his precarious job alone.
49:23Also an experienced mountaineer, Egno has a good head for heights.
49:27The special roof tiles he uses are called piode.
49:31They have to fit perfectly, because no grout or fixative is used.
49:44Egno would love to keep the tradition alive and to pass on his artisan skills.
49:52But his helpers are 86 and 72 years old.
49:57The men have worked together for decades.
49:59They can't retire just yet, though.
50:01Who would do their work?
50:06The work I do isn't just a job, it's an art.
50:13I remember once, someone was watching me from another rooftop and called over.
50:18Yes, that roof stone you just used, it fit perfectly, like no other could.
50:25It really is an art, doing what I do.
50:36The lake is one of the things I've seen every day since my birth.
50:40I was born here near the lake, and if it weren't there, something would really be missing.
50:47But I also need the mountains.
50:49This is a beautiful area because of all that.
50:57Egno has set his tiles almost everywhere on Lago Maggiore.
51:02He will surely never retire from his lake.
51:09Lake Maggiore, a jewel of the Alps that unites untamed nature, rich culture and tradition.
51:17A truly magical place, this lake that spans two countries, with a long history and so many stories to tell.
51:33ED.
51:34What a monumental value is an art.
51:38To do the lake of sertral Marianas and alt
51:49Transcription by CastingWords
52:19CastingWords
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