Sacro Monte di Orta

The Sacro Monte di Orta is a devotional hill rising above the village of Orta San Giulio on Lake Orta, one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy collectively inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built mainly between the late sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, it is dedicated to the life of Saint Francis of Assisi and consists of a winding processional route through wooded parkland linking twenty chapels, each housing painted terracotta statues and frescoes that stage episodes from the saint's life with vivid, almost theatrical realism. Unlike most pilgrimage mounts the layout is gently spiralling rather than steeply ascending, so the walk among chestnut and lime trees is a pleasure in itself, opening repeatedly onto wide views over the lake and the islet of San Giulio below. The interiors of the chapels are viewed through grilles and windows, and the combination of art, devotion and landscape gives the place a contemplative calm. A visit usually takes an hour and a half to two hours at a relaxed pace. The park is free and open during daylight, and it is at its most beautiful in autumn, when the trees turn colour, and in the soft light of morning and late afternoon, which suits both photography and quiet reflection. The site is busiest on summer weekends but rarely crowded compared with the lakeside village. It is reached on foot in about fifteen to twenty minutes uphill from Orta San Giulio, making it an easy and rewarding addition to a visit to the lake, and one of the finest expressions of the sacred art and landscape tradition for which this corner of Piedmont is celebrated.