The UNESCO World Heritage List includes places of outstanding cultural, historical, or natural value, to be preserved and passed on to future generations. Piedmont, among its valleys, lakes, and villages, also holds true gems that form part of this prestigious list.

In the provinces of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Novara, and Vercelli, we find several sites worth discovering and visiting, symbols of the spirituality, history, and ancient roots of the territory.

The Sacred Mount of Orta is located on the hill overlooking the village of Orta San Giulio and Lake Orta. Here unfolds a devotional path dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, made up of twenty frescoed chapels immersed in nature. It is part of the serial site of the Sacred Mountains of Piedmont and Lombardy, recognized for its harmonious fusion of art, architecture, and landscape.

The Sacred Mount of Varallo is the oldest of the Sacred Mountains, conceived at the end of the fifteenth century as a “New Jerusalem.” On the slopes of Mount Tre Croci, a true spiritual and theatrical complex tells, through more than 40 chapels, the life and passion of Christ with statues and frescoes of strong emotional impact.

The Sacred Mount Calvary of Domodossola, located on the Mattarella hill, offers a meditative route through fifteen chapels representing the Way of the Cross. In addition to its artistic and religious value, the complex is surrounded by an evocative landscape overlooking the Ossola Alps.

Of great historical significance are the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings of Mercurago, in the province of Novara. Within the Lagoni di Mercurago Park, near Arona, lies one of the sites that make up the vast transnational serial site of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings of the Alpine Arc. Here, remains of stilt-house settlements dating back to the Bronze Age were found, shedding light on the daily life of the first lacustrine communities of Europe.

In the picture: Sacred Mount Calvary of Domodossola