San Giulio Island or
St. Julius Island (Italian:
Isola di San Giulio) is the only island within
Lake Orta 
in
Piedmont 
, northwestern Italy. The most famous building on the island is the
Basilica di San Giulio 
close to which is the monumental old seminary (1840s). Since 1976 it has been transformed into a Benedictine monastery.
Geography
The island is 275 m (902 ft) long (north/south) and is 140 m (459 ft) wide (east/west). The little island, just west of the lakeshore village of
Orta San Giulio 
, has very picturesque buildings and takes its name from a local patron saint (Julius of
Novara 
), who lived in the second half of the 4th century.