From Montecassino Abbey to La Verna Sanctuary, Italy has no shortage of monasteries and abbeys located in picturesque locations. But as far as island monasteries go, it’s hard to beat the Monastery of St. Julius, in Italy’s Lake Orta.
Just 900 feet long and 500 feet wide, the island stands at the center of Lake Orta, a tiny Alpine lake nestled among the mighty Cusan Alps between the northern Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy.
At the heart of the island stands the Basilica of San Giulio, a Romanesque masterpiece erected in the early Middle Ages. According to tradition, St. Julius — a missionary of the late 4th century — arrived on these shores to spread the Gospel, crossing the lake in the most humble of vessels, his cloak.
After landing on the island, and, according to a local tradition, battling against serpents, St. Julius established the first Catholic place of worship in the area, laying the foundations of Christian devotion that have endured for centuries.
Over centuries the church was expanded and enriched, including a series of beautiful frescoes from the 15th and 16th centuries depicting the martyrdom of St. Julius and chapters of his life, and a Benedictine nunnery was annexed to it. Today, cloistered Benedictine nuns still live and work in the centuries-old abbey. While visitors are allowed to visit the island, church, and abbey throughout the year, it is only on January 31, on the feast day of St. Julius, that they can actually make contact with the nuns. On that day, Benedictine nuns break their cloistered life to distribute a special bread made in honor of the beloved saint.
From the early hours of January 31, pilgrims and locals alike begin making their way to the island with local ferries or small private boats that are docked on the pier located just outside the main Romanesque church. The celebration, which starts with solemn Vespers the previous evening, includes a Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Novara and a colorful procession around the tiny Alpine islet to parade St. Julius’ remains.
During the procession, visitors are greeted by nuns offering the famous “bread of St. Julius,” an Alpine bread made with flour, water, yeast and local nuts, often marked with a cross. This special bread, invented by nuns who were tinkering in the abbey’s kitchen with local ingredients, is meant to be shared, broken, and eaten together as a symbol of communion. Indeed, visiting this tiny island on January 31 offers a unique insight into how faith binds together the lives of cloistered nuns, living a contemplative life on the eerily quiet island of St. Julius, and those of locals and pilgrims.
The act of breaking bread together symbolizes this communion. Celebrations continue until sunset, when ferries and boats start to take people back to the shore and the Alpine islet slowly goes back to its timeless, peaceful atmosphere.
