On the arms of Leggiuno there is no heraldic symbol but a drawing from life: the hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, reproduced in its natural colours with five gold stars beneath it. It is the best known building in the province of Varese, wedged on a rock spur sheer above Lake Maggiore, and the commune chose to be represented by that rather than by a lion or a tower. Whoever looks at the arms sees exactly what they would see from the water.
Three thousand five hundred and seventy-one inhabitants in the province of Varese, on a hilly belt between one hundred and ninety-three and three hundred and twenty-six metres. The name is thought to come from the Celtic leze, at the foot of, and dunum, hill: in the Middle Ages the place is recorded as Lezeduno. Some derived it instead from Legio-una, a legion of Caesar's that halted hereabouts, but that guess does not hold. In 1927 Leggiuno passed from the province of Como to the new one of Varese and was joined with the former communes of Arolo, Ballarate, Cellina and Sangiano; in 1963 Sangiano became independent again, the others stayed as hamlets. The footballer Gigi Riva was born here.
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📅 Every year, on 26 December; the Swim of the Hermitage from Stresa to Reno di Leggiuno
Leggiuno celebrates Saint Stephen on 26 December, in the church dedicated to him. Among the town's traditions is the Nuotata dell'Eremo, a charity swim crossing Lake Maggiore from Stresa to Reno di Leggiuno.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Leggiuno, but an easy day trip away.
