The patron saint of Gallarate is Saint Christopher, celebrated on 25 July: among the town's most significant religious buildings stand out the basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, the church of Santi Nazaro e Celso and that of Bishop Saint Eusebius.
During the Napoleonic period Gallarate took part in the industrial revolution, and in the Restoration era it was the scene of Romantic debates that prepared the ground for the Risorgimento struggles, when the town was home to pharmacists Giuseppe and Pompeo Castelli, owners of an old pharmacy tradition links to the setting of a famous novel. The town gradually focused ever more on its industrial role, so much so that in the early 20th century it was known as «the town of a hundred chimneys»: traces remain today in the many Art Nouveau-style sheds, often abandoned or repurposed, and in workers' villages such as Villaggio Bellora, which became genuine town districts. The textile sector, once dominant, has today given way to a growing role for Gallarate as a service and commercial hub, favoured by its proximity to Malpensa airport, also drawn on during Milan's Expo 2015.
