Italian Lakes. The Italian Lakes (Italian: Grandi laghi prealpini, lit. "great pre-alpine lakes") are a group of large lakes 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 glacial lakes 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. 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/S??dtirol, and in the Swiss canton of Ticino. They are all located at least partly in Italy, while two...
