Meina to discover

Meina is a Piedmontese town in the province of Novara; rises at 214 meters of altitude and has 2,400 inhabitants. Located on the Piedmontese shore of Lake Maggiore, Meina was the scene between 15 and 23 September 1943 of the massacre of 16 Italian Jews from Greece, carried out at the hands of the Nazi SS in the Meina hotel owned by Alberto Behar, a Turkish citizen of origin. Jewish. The film hotel Meina directed by Carlo Lizzani was shot on the story. The banker Enrico Cuccia, buried here, stayed for a long time in his villa. Stately and ancient dwellings, sumptuous villas follow one another along the lakefront and on the hills. Worthy of note is certainly Villa Pernot, built in the second half of the nineteenth century, and characterized by grandeur and sober elegance. Today it has been transformed into a hotel. Also noteworthy is Villa Faraggiana, in neoclassical style, built around 1860 by senator Raffaele Faraggiana. Also worth visiting is Palazzo Gatti Grami, home to an ancient pharmacy. As for the sacred buildings, the church of Santa Margherita is the main one, dedicated to the patron saint of the town. Meina is a renowned tourist resort and offers some good equipped beaches on the shores of the lake.