Sacri Monti: nine hills, seven of them in Piedmont

The Sacri Monti are nine devotional hill complexes inscribed together in 2003, seven of them in Piedmont and two in Lombardy, and they were built as a substitute for the pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Nine complexes, one inscription

Nine Sacri Monti carry a single World Heritage listing made in 2003 under criteria ii and iv, reference 1068³. The core zone is 90.5² hectares with a buffer zone of 721.9² hectares.

Being one property matters for counting. Piedmont holds five World Heritage sites in 2026, and this shared one is a single entry in that total even though seven of the nine hills are inside the region.

Seven in Piedmont, and where they are

The Piedmontese seven are Varallo, Crea, Orta, Oropa, Ghiffa, Domodossola and Valperga, which goes by the name Belmonte. They are spread from the Valsesia to the Monferrato and up to the Ossola, not clustered in one valley.

Varallo is the oldest and the largest. Orta stands above its own lake, a short drive west of Lake Maggiore, which makes it the one that fits into a lake trip rather than a dedicated day.

Two in Lombardy, above Como and at Varese

Ossuccio, above Lake Como, and Varese are the Lombard pair. Their inclusion is the reason the property is transregional, and it affects the way both regions report their UNESCO totals: the site counts once, in two places.

Varese is the easiest of all nine to reach without a car, sitting immediately above a provincial capital with a rail station.

Built to replace a journey to Jerusalem

These complexes went up between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th as an alternative to pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which was then dangerous and expensive for ordinary believers.

The design follows from that purpose. A route climbs a hill past chapels, each staging a scene with life-size painted terracotta figures and frescoed walls, so the walk itself does the work the journey would have done. It is closer to theater than to a gallery, and it was built for people who would never see Jerusalem.

No common ticket, no common timetable

Nobody publishes a joint price list or a shared timetable for the nine. Each Sacro Monte is administered separately, some by a regional park body, some by a sanctuary, and hours vary with the season and with worship.

Several of the routes are open hillside you can walk without paying anything, with the chapels shuttered and visible through grilles. Check the individual site before you travel, and don't assume the model of a ticketed museum.

Lake Maggiore, at the foot of two of these hills, is at Lago Maggiore and its gardens at Isole Borromee. The regions are Piemonte and Lombardia.

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