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The Italian Lakes (, Extract of page 181 lit. "great pre-alpine lakes") are a group of large lying on the south side of the Alps, in the basin of the river Po and the Mediterranean Sea. As their name suggests, they are essentially located in northern Italy; however, they are also partly located in southern Switzerland. They are all that formed after the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age. The group is composed of (from west to east): Lake Orta, Lake Maggiore, Lake Varese, Lake Lugano, Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro and Lake Garda.Gabriel Faure (1923). The Italian Lakes: Maggiore, Como, Orta, Varese, Lugano, Iseo, Garda The three largest are all well over 100 km2; they are: Lake Garda (largest in Italy), Lake Maggiore (largest in southern Switzerland) and Lake Como (deepest in Italy).
The lakes are located in the Italian regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and in the Swiss canton of Ticino. They are all located at least partly in Italy, while two of them (Maggiore and Lugano) are partly in Switzerland.
The Italian Lakes have constituted a popular tourist destination since the Roman Era for their mild climate and their view of the Alps. Gestione Governativa Navigazione Laghi (Navigazione Laghi) operates ship routes on lakes Maggiore, Garda and Como.
The particularly mild climate of the Italian Lakes favours the growth of some hardy Mediterranean plants, including the olive tree, parasol pine, mediterranean cypress, chinese windmill palm and Canary Island Date Palm. Lake Lugano (Gandria) is one of the few places in Switzerland where olives are grown. Some hardy Citrus trees, such as hardy lemons and satsuma can also be found around Lake Garda, which are extremely rare at this latitude.
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