As the most northerly of the three principal Borromean Islands it is also known as Isola Superiore and, with a population of 25 in 2018, it is the only one to be inhabited all year round.

A narrow street running along its spine is joined by cobbled alleys to the promenade that encircles the island.

The promenade is frequently flooded and the houses built against it are constructed to allow for this.

The church of San Vittore retains traces of a chapel that was probably constructed for the monks of Scozzòla (an abbey of San Donato di Sesto Calende founded by Liutardo, the bishop of Pavia, in the mid ninth century).

[2] The church was previously dedicated to S. Gangolfo (Gangulphus), whose veneration is linked with the Abbey of San Donato.