CULTURE AND ART

Museums, ancient churches, and small cultural spaces: the Verbano valleys are home to a wealth of artistic and historical testimonies waiting to be discovered

The Verbano Valleys boast an enormous historical and cultural heritage, the result of a long evolution linked to their strategic position between lakes and mountains, close to the Swiss border.

Since ancient times, these valleys have been crossed by commercial and cultural exchange routes that have favored the birth of villages, sanctuaries, monasteries and rural settlements that still today tell the story of the territory.

Each valley has preserved distinctive elements ranging from ancient religious buildings such as the Canonica di Brezzo di Bedero to the still authentic atmosphere of small pre-Alpine settlements – such as the evocative Monteviasco, which today can only be reached on foot –, passing through the testimonies of a past linked both to agriculture and to the first industrialization.

Many towns are home to small ethnographic museums, collections of sacred or wall art – such as the "painted village" of Arcumeggia – or exhibition spaces linked to historical figures or local artists, as in the case of Luino, the birthplace of writers such as Piero Chiara and Vittorio Sereni. There is no shortage of historical itineraries, such as the routes along the fortifications of the Cadorna Line or the paths of Mount San Martino.

The Verbano Valleys therefore preserve a widespread and stratified cultural wealth, where traditions, history, architecture, art and nature coexist in harmony, offering anyone who visits them an unforgettable experience in the heart of the upper Varesotto.

MUSEUMS

Art, sport, history and legends intertwine to tell the thousand facets of this territory

RELIGIOUS PLACES

The traces and history of Christian spirituality populate the valleys of Verbano, from the lake to the mountains